Stainless-steel water bottles can help reduce Malta’s plastic waste problem

A reusable water bottle can be part of a collective push to reverse the upsurge in the usage of plastics of the last 50 years.

Reusable stainless-steel water bottles are now being distributed at selected events as part of the ‘Water: Be the Change campaign’, a national campaign focusing on the conservation of natural water resources, to further encourage the shift to reusable water bottles.

Plastic usage has created a permanent ecological problem in the form of plastic waste collecting in our rivers, streams, and oceans, and leaking toxins into the water we consume.

But making the switch to reusable water bottles is a great way to help limit the plastic pollution crisis.

It’s true that plastic water bottles can be recycled, but reusing water bottles and refilling them with water can be better both for the environment.

More than one million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and the surge in usage of plastic bottles is expected to continue to increase in the years to come. It is estimated that in Europe we are producing 25 million tonnes of plastic waste every year.

Almost 60% of all this plastic waste comes from packaging, including bottled water. The greater problem is that plastic waste generation is increasing at a higher rate than the rates of recycling.

The increasing generation of plastic waste is also a problem in Malta. But reusing a water bottle can make a big difference: in Malta each person generates over 70kg of plastic waste annually.

A more permanent solution is stainless steel water bottles, which apart from probably being more visually appealing and customisable, are more sturdy and easy-to-clean.

Opting for reusable bottles can also be less expensive on a daily basis as most often refilling your bottle with drinking water is cheaper than purchasing a new plastic water bottle.

In Malta plastic bottles and their caps unfortunately are one of the most common litter item found in coastal areas, to the detriment of the environment and all its users.

Worldwide, 8 million tons of plastic waste finds its way into the oceans every year, where it forms huge, ecosystem-disrupting garbage gyres and breaks down into dangerous micro plastics that are taken up in the food chain.