4. No More Water Bottles!

Come on, you know this already. Water bottles take something most of us get for free (often stealing it from the American people), wrap it in toxic and terrible plastic that will not decompose in any of our lifetimes, and sells it back to us. It is mind-boggling and ridiculous that this could even happen. It is even more shocking that it actually works. Cartoon villians like those jerks at Nestle are making money hand over fist by taking advantage of us.

And we give them money to do it. These giant corporations are taking advantage of us and acting like crooks, and then we hand them our money. What!?!?

This is the narrative we are facing down around every corner with our economy. The rich keep getting richer because we give them our money after they have already stolen from us. But we have a choice, and in the case of bottled water, the choice is clear. We just have to stop.

Plastic water bottles account for over one million tons of waste every year. One million tons (at 2000 pounds a ton, that makes the waste the same weight as 13 million people) . That is waste that is made of fossil fuels and will never biodegrade. Water bottles are forever. You can read even more about this here.

Now, maybe giving them up completely isn't feesible for you. Alright, here are some mini-resolutions that should work.

Use a Reusable Water Bottle- You can fly with one, keep one in your bag, and drink from one at home. My favorites are glass, like these from Lifefactory. I also love Liberty Bottleworks.

Never Drink a Water Bottle at Home- If you have safe water, which not everyone does, there is literally no reason to drink a water bottle at home. Get a glass or a cup out. Keep water bottles out of your fridge and your home.  You can get a filter fill your water from your tap.

Take it Easy on Pop- I know I haven't had a water bottle all year. But I do get a pop when we travel. I am going to start either getting them in a paper or reusable cup (no straw!), or not at all. Any one time use plastic bottle is bad news.

Oh friends, this is a simple step we can all take this year. It will save you money. It will stick it to those who think they can steal American water and still make money off of us. And it will keep so much plastic out of our landfills and water. It's an obvious step, but one that we don't truly commit to. It's time.

To Go Even Bigger- Seek out products that recycle plastic water bottles. They are out there, from Polywood benches to my favorite pens to planters. Recycled water bottles are a thing, so send the market the message that it is profitable to do the right thing and start recycling these menaces.

Access to water is a huge issue in the United States and will most definitely continue to be so in the next four years (as our President Elect is reported to be an investor in some of the oil lines like DAPL that threaten water sources). But the right of clean water is a non-partisan issue, and it might be a good place to get involved.

Yay water! Now, if you want more ideas, check out #3!