Don’t just think green – act green!

22/04/2015 Sidrah Ahmad

Here, at Waterlogic, providing pure, clean drinking water is our priority but not at the expense of this green earth. In the spirit of Earth Day, we feel that it’s our corporate responsibility to remind you, the water drinkers of the world, the importance of not just “thinking green” but acting green. It’s not enough for us to just know what we could do to protect our environment, but now; we need to take that extra step in putting forth actions that are eco-friendly and truly make a difference.

So where do you start and what should you do? Why not start at work, where your actions can have an impact on numerous people and who knows, your action plan can even cause a trickle effect. Before you know it, your employees and coworkers will be putting forth those eco-friendly actions at home and pass down their “earth-friendly knowledge” to their friends and family (and you were the cause of that – how cool!).

So what actions can you strive for at work? Here’s an easy one that we strongly believe in – ditch the bottle!

At first thought, water seems to be an obvious environmentally friendly product – why not – it’s one of the only products that cannot be created by humans. But the problem is in how some of the water is packaged and delivered to us, the everyday user.

The truth is that the process of getting water to us can be extremely harmful to the environment, not to mention expensive for us – especially if we are providing safe drinking water for our staff or clients in our work place.

According to Ban the Bottle:

• Manufacturing the plastic bottles that are used in the United States each year calls for more than 17 million barrels of oil to be used – which is enough to fuel over 1 million cars for a year,
• The US can power up to 190,000 homes with the energy that is used to bottle water,
• And last year, the average American only recycled approximately 23% of the disposable water bottles that were used.

Unfortunately, the harm doesn’t stop there, other facts to keep in mind (Pacific Institute):

• It takes 1,000 years for plastic bottles to bio-degrade (very unfortunate since approximately 77% of water bottles are not recycled)
• A lot of the bottles that are not recycled end up littering beaches, polluting the seas, harming marine life and covering landfills
• More than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide is used when bottling water
•  It takes 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water (That shouldn’t be the case just to drink clean water)

Ok – so you’ve jumped on our bandwagon – now, how do you go about ditching the bottle?

Well, as Waterlogic, producers of bottleless water coolers, it’s easy for us to say – Request a Quote for your business! But the truth of the matter is, it’s not about us – it’s about YOU!

Try these tips and pass them onto your coworkers, so your company can start making a difference today:

Get a bottleless cooler

Of course, we just had to say it, but going with a bottleless cooler within your company is ideal! Bottleless water coolers connect directly to your building’s water line and will filter it at point of dispense.This way, you’re not adding those large 5 gallon plastic jugs to landfills and you’re company will also save money, not to mention – you won’t have to deal with the inconvenience of water delivery service.

Keep filtered water in the fridge

Depending on the size of your company, using a filtered water pitcher in the fridge of all your break rooms might be a good solution. Companies with a small number of staff might benefit from a filtered water pitcher that they can refill in BPA-free reusable bottles. This is also a great solution for your family at home.

Reusable bottles

If you’re going to have a bottleless cooler or a filtered pitcher at work, why not thank your employees for joining the company efforts on going bottleless by providing them with a BPA-free reusable bottle. There are great products out there in all shape and sizes that you can brand with your company’s name or logo if you’d like. Nalgene bottles are also a great solution as they tend to be bigger, which means less times you’ll have to get up from your desk to refill.

Recycle stations

If your employees still insist on bringing in plastic bottles from home, provide a bin for them to recycle those bottles. All you have to do is designate a specific bin as the recycle bin, place a sign on it, and put it right next to the regular garbage can. This way, they’ll always be reminded how easy it is to recycle.

Share the knowledge

It’s true what they say, knowledge is power, so provide your employees with that power. Some people still believe that bottled water is the “pure” alternative (although, according to Ban the Bottle, the Environmental Protection Agency requires multiple daily tests for bacteria while making the results available to the public. Whereas, the Food and Drug Administration which regulates bottled water, only requires weekly testing and does not share its findings with the EPA or the public), so don’t just tell them how plastic bottles aren’t the solution – show them. As a company, you can print out flyers or send out emails showing them the facts and telling them where those facts are coming from.

Are you ready now? We think so. Stand up, think green and act green!