What are Viable Alternatives to Bottled Water?

We live in an ever-increasing cycle of consuming, and not recycling, single-use plastics. Plastic water bottles are one of the biggest culprits.

• We contribute to an estimated 12m tonnes of plastic entering our oceans, polluting marine life, every year.
• Over 150 plastic bottles litter each mile of UK beaches.
• In 2016, 16 million plastic bottles were thrown away by British households every day!!

When it comes to plastic water bottles, there is a blindingly obvious alternative: drink non-bottled water. Whether that is using tap water to fill up your re-usable water bottles or asking for tap water when you’re out for a meal, there are so many alternatives to using single-us plastic bottles that there shouldn’t be a need to use them.

Alternatives to single-use plastic bottles

There are so many alternatives to single-use plastic bottles on the market, from glass and ceramic to stainless steel and boxes.

Glass, while a fragile material, is uncompromising. It keeps liquids colder out of the fridge for longer than plastic and is infinitely recyclable. Ceramic is similar to glass, but is even heavier, which might be a concern for using out and about.

Stainless steel bottles are lined so there is no metallic taste. This lining also keeps liquids colder than glass, and can also be used to store hot drinks, keeping them hot for a long time.

Paper boxes are the latest trend in liquid transportation. While they’ve been around for a while with wine and milk, the coconut water trend has blown up the popularity of paper boxes.

If you’re feeling really adventurous, there are a few companies in the UK that are experimenting with edible alternatives to plastic. For example, London-based Skipping Rocks Lab have created the Ooho Balls, which are little edible pouches that are filled with water. They have proven successful in running events and the novelty of eating your water bottle is not only fun, it comes with a minimal carbon footprint.

While these methods will help reduce your impact on the environment at the point where you put the water into a container, but what about the environmental damage that results from the production of water?

Our planet is covered by almost 70% water, however only 3% of that water is fresh. By drinking water from a tap, we are using the finite resource. It Is estimated that by 2025, two thirds of the world’s population will face water scarcities, which is a challenge that scientists are trying to solve.

Did you know that water requires pumping, piping and shipping to a treatment plant before it even gets into your pipes? Also, if your business uses plastic water dispensers, they are not the most environmentally friendly method, the water is stored in large plastic bottles, that are difficult to recycle and the regular deliveries will add to pollution.

Midshire is one of the few distributors of the Skywell 5TE, a revolutionary water product in the office water production market. The Skywell creates water out of the air that surrounds us, reducing the use of pipes, plastic and delivery trucks. Discover more about these atmospheric water generators here.