The biggest growth in use of plastic bottles is not soft drinks. It happens to be water. Have you realized that Americans consumed nearly 200 water bottles 2006? As more and more Americans are looking to healthy life styles, this number will have considerably increased since the release of that study. What are Americans doing with the empty water bottles? What are some ways in which you can help slow the rate of growing landfills?

Overall, are people really recycling water bottles? It is fact that it is still difficult to recycle water bottles while away from home, and that leaves some staggering facts about lack of recycling. Evidence shows that eight out of ten plastic water bottles become landfill waste. They also take an estimated 700 years before beginning to decompose.

As daunting as those figures look, there are concerned citizens and businesses out there utilizing what little we do recycle. Aside from what we know about recycled plastic being used for everything from NASA to luggage, there are some things just developing:

**Hawaii has just this year passed a mandatory 5-cent deposit law, following California and Maine’s example.

**Motorola has just this month confirmed that it will be manufacturing the first mobile phone made from recycled water bottles.

**My Custom Water has a few ideas of its’ own.

First of all, we recycle. We also encourage recycling. Most water bottles are consumed away from home due to the convenience. We realize that it is not a simple (or practical) choice to find a recycling facility every time you empty out a water bottle. We do, however, recommend that instead of finding the nearest trash can, you carry an empty bag, or buy a small trashcan for your car that you can dispose of used bottles easily. You can then recycle them at your convenience at a later date.

Ben Trammel
www.mycustomwater.com