Go Green and #SipSustainably

Let’s face it; the world we live in today is drowning in plastics, or more specifically, plastic water bottles & cups. Often it feels as if we are stuck in a sick never-ending cycle, people throw out the plastic bottles, these bottles clog our sewers, and the sewers flood our cities. Just imagine how many disposable cups are used and thrown out each day. Is it not strange how normal this all sounds to us? Let’s take some time to clear things out.

Plastic is FAR from Cheap

So, we’ve been told over and over again that to have a healthy body, we have to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. However, with everyone constantly in a rush to be somewhere else, we often forget and risk dehydration. That means, to keep up with all the hustle and bustle of the world while still staying fit, most of us buy easy, pre-packaged bottles of water from convenience stores. They’re cheaper anyway right?

Wrong. For every plastic water bottle you use, the cost of it actually equals both a huge punch to your wallet. How?        

Well, somehow, there is this misconception that using plastic water bottles is in most ways cheaper and safer than just obtaining water from other potable sources - this is a myth. The truth is that 90% of the cost of a single plastic water bottle comes from the creation of the actual plastic bottle - not from the water filtration process. A single bottle takes around ¼ bottle of oil to create, which means that a whole year’s supply of plastic water bottles would be enough to power 1.3 million cars for a whole year (Print Marketing Blog - Printwand™, 2019). Your drinking water shouldn’t cost this much just because it has a plastic exterior, don’t you agree?

More Fun in the Philippines?

Worse than that, however, is a 2015 survey that labeled the Philippines as the 3rd largest ocean-polluter in the world, generating around 2.7 million tons of plastic pollution per year (Porcalla, 2018). Unfortunately, single-use plastics like the plastic water bottle, which take about 1,000 years to fully decompose, make up almost 90% of that number. Meaning that the water bottles we use for less than 10 minutes and just mindlessly throw out at the end of the day will end up floating around in our oceans for a very long, long time. So much so, that all the plastic products ever created from when the first plastics were ever made are still present in our environment (Johnston, 2019).          

It is estimated that by the year 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than there are fish (Johnston, 2019). Is this the world that we would like to leave behind for our children? And for our children’s children? Is there nothing that can be done to help save Planet Earth? 

Fortunately, not all hope is lost.

A Possible Alternative (i.e. Savior)

Every year, millions of people all around the globe come together to celebrate Earth Day, a day dedicated solely to the importance of protecting our natural world. They reduce their use of energy by turning the lights off, walking to work, and refusing to use plastic bags. However, once the day (or hour for some people) ends, a lot of people go back to their safe little bubbles of luxury and convenience. The lights go back on, the cars are back on the road, and the plastic bags blow around in the wind. All in all, most people (not you we hope!) seem to care for our planet a total of 1 day out of 365 in a year.

Which begs the question: How far are we willing to go for our own convenience?   

Introducing the brand with a mission to protect our beloved home – Stanley. Last Earth Day 2019, Stanley ditched the waste, went all green, and launched the #SipSustainably campaign. Its goal is to urge people (just like you!) to take the first step to saving our planet through the widespread use of social media.

But what is #SipSustainably?

#SipSustainably is a campaign featuring Stanley that focuses on eradicating the harmful effects of plastic water bottles on the environment by eradicating the use of the plastic water bottles themselves – targeting the problem right at its source. So that instead of disposable, people like you start going reusable with Stanley’s stainless-steel water tumblers that both encourage frugality and promote sustainable living.

But what exactly does #SipSustainably mean and what is sustainable living?         

Well, the simplest way to define “sustainably” or sustainability is the desire and ability to maintain ecological balance by sustaining our natural world. Sustainable living is a type of lifestyle designed to bring awareness to people about the amount of waste they produce and the amount of resources they consume, in order to encourage them to lessen their carbon footprint.          

This is exactly what Stanley provides with this campaign, the chance to avoid doing harm to our resources through the use of a reusable eco-friendly water bottle.

The Pros of Reusable Water Bottles

(c): Paolo Bernardo

If you’re worried about having to sacrifice your comfort to be a responsible human being – don’t sweat it. Having a reusable water bottle is just a gift that keeps on giving. All you sacrifice is the effort of washing it every so often and carrying it everywhere, which you would do anyway with a plastic water bottle.        

On the other hand, the things it can do for you greatly outweigh the costs, including but not limited to: Saving your money and saving your health. Always know where your water is coming from with one of these bottles and keep the taste from going stale. Plus, if you plan to get one of Stanley’s new insulated water bottles or tumblers then you would also have the added enjoyment of having your chosen drink kept at your ideal temperature for as long as you want. Most reusable water bottles even come with their own built-in water filter!       

The best thing about using a reusable water bottle, however, is the impact your actions have on the environment. With one of these bottles, you are simultaneously lowering the amount of waste in landfills, reducing the chemicals released into the environment, and protecting the lives of animals in their natural habitats – proving that it costs very little to give back to the planet we live on.

Water Bottle Quick Tips

(c): Miguel Enriquez

To help you quit plastic water bottles forever and make the right choice to go green with a reusable one. Here are some 5 quick tips for using your own water bottle:

Keep one with you 24/7

- Anytime, anywhere, you never know when you might feel parched or get lost in a desert.

Have more than one bottle

- One for the car, one for work, one for the gym, etc.– fit the aesthetic of each water bottle to its environment. After all, you can never have too many.

Invest in good insulation

- Enjoy what you drink with an insulated water bottle and choose your own temperature. (PS. Stanley bottles have excellent insulation technology)

Always choose durability

- Make sure to pick water bottles that won’t crack when dropped, perhaps one made out of stainless steel.

Rinse your bottles at least once a day

- Prevent any sort of algae or mold buildup by washing and drying them out as soon as possible. 

Of course, to properly choose what specific kind of reusable water bottle you want to buy, you have to first consider your needs. Different materials bring different benefits and different brands have different specializations, you must figure out how much of a perk you might need and how much of another you won’t even use. Then, you have the choice to pick out a specific type of color and size. The choices and possibilities in the world of reusable water bottles are endless.

Be an Environmental Advocate

In a world where humanity suffers from the effects of our own actions, from contaminated water to polluted air; perhaps it is time for you to take a stand for a cause and enjoy the benefits of your actions. All it takes is one strong person to jumpstart a huge tide of change.

Now is the time for you to do your part! Live sustainably and share the importance of saving our planet by choosing to invest your own reusable water bottle. When the solution resides in either the planet or plastic – maybe it’s finally time for us to choose our planet?           

Take the pledge, join the campaign and declare to the world just how much you care for Mother Earth with a picture showing how you #SipSustainably and post it with the captions #SipSustainably and #StanleyPH. It doesn’t matter what kind of reusable water bottle you have now, spread the word to all your friends and family, make it known around the globe that you are an advocate of life.         

How do you #SipSustainably? Let us know!

References: 

Johnston, I. (2019). How plastic is destroying the Earth. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/plastic-how-planet-earth-environment-oceans-wildlife-recycling-landfill-artificial-a7972226.html [Accessed 24 Apr. 2019].

Porcalla, D. (2018). Philippines 3rd largest contributor to ocean plastic | Philstar.com. [online] philstar.com. Available at: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/06/15/1824813/philippines-3rd-largest-contributor-ocean-plastic [Accessed 24 Apr. 2019].

Print Marketing Blog - Printwand™. (2019). Why You Need to Ditch Bottled Water This Earth Day. [online] Available at: https://www.printwand.com/blog/plastic-water-bottle-pollution-effects-facts [Accessed 24 Apr. 2019].