PLASTIC WATER- BOTTLES, Get Involved for 2008!

Plastic Water Bottle - Awareness

Of the 25 billion single-serving plastic water bottles Americans use each year, 80% end up in landfills. Recycle your water bottles and, better yet, choose to re-use a refillable water bottle made of a refill-safe material. (BeGreenNow.com)

Last year on August 18, 2007 during and after the Air and Water Show, my group of 15 dedicated volunteers showed up during a rainy day to help me with my project. My project was to pick littered plastic water bottles and placed them in a blue recycling bags, so they may be recycled by the City of Chicago. By doing so, it will eliminate trash, which has a negative effect on the environment. My team collected hundreds of thousands of plastic water bottles, including plastic pop bottles discarded all around North Ave Beach.

This year we are having our second annual Water Bottle Awareness for the 50th Annual Chicago Air and Water Show which shakes up the lake front on August 18-19, 2008 which is the LARGEST free show of it's kind in the United States. It is the city's second most popular festival. Last year, 2,200,000 people watched the show. Imagine, about 2 million plastic water bottles will be discarded on the beach this year in a two days period.

Worldwide sale of bottled water a year is estimated to be between $50 and $100 billion (US) and increasing approximately 7 to 10 percent annually. In 2004, the US bottled water industry surpassed 6.8 billion gallons of water for that year, an increase of 8.6% over the previous year (Beverage Marketing Corporation, 2005) 22.6 Gallons of bottled water each person in the U.S. consumed in 2006, up 8.4 percent from the previous year.

The consumption of over 150 billion liters of bottled water per year
necessitates the use of billions of plastic and glass bottles. Though the materials used are generally recyclable, many of these bottles, particularly those used in developing countries without recycling infrastructure, are discarded rather than recycled, with this trash having a negative effect on the environment. More than a billion Water bottles end up in the state's landfills each year. (The Associated Press)

The plastic used to package the 6 billion gallons of bottled water sold in the United States somehow end-up clogging landfills and littering the landscape and spreading toxins into ground water. Nine out of 10 plastic bottles end up as litter. That?s 30 million discarded bottles a day. (According to Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures 2004)

We, the people of Chicago should all be aware about this, and I urge everyone to help us and give us a hand.

People, contributing in any way, are the main source of the help we need for our city, and the environment. If we can encourage other cities to participate and allow ourselves to be inspired, then we can achieve our goals.

Thank you again for those of you who helped during last year's event. Your help is very much appreciated!


M. Grace Sielaff
Leader Chicago Conservation Corp
Email: grace@mgracedesigns.com

The Chicago Conservation Corp, as part of the Chicago Department of Environment, consist of group of volunteers making a difference in our environment.