subject: Plant Based Bottles - Bottles Of The Future [print this page] It is estimated that only 2 out of 10 plastic bottles make it to the recycle bin. The other 8 find their way into landfills where they leach toxic chemicals into the ground and water supply. With Americans purchasing over 50 billion bottles of water each year, coming up with an eco-friendly solution to this problem is imperative. Although there is a growing trend encouraging people to drink tap water from reusable bottles, this is not always possible especially in areas where the tap water is not safe to drink. Luckily, though, alternative plant based bottles have been developed using bioplastics rather than oil.
Bioplastic is a form of plastic made from biomass such as corn starch and vegetable oil. Although it is primarily used as food packaging, it has also been adopted for use in other products such as cell phone casings and carpet fibers. Unlike plastic products made from petroleum oil, plant based bottles and other products made from bioplastic are biodegradable. Specifically, they are created to be compostable and should be put in a compost bin rather than the trash can. This makes them a lot more Earth-friendly than the regular water bottles in use today.
Making plant based bottles is generally more environmentally friendly than their oil based counterparts. Most companies are able to use less energy and resources to make bioplastic products. For example, Natureworks uses 50% nonrenewable energy to make its bioplastic product Ingeo than other types of plastics on the market including PET. The company also produces 60% less greenhouse gas. The savings to the environment doesn't stop at the production line. 100,000 food containers made with Ingeo instead of PET is equivalent to taking 19 gallons of oil worth of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. That is definitely worth making the effort to buy products made from bioplastics.
More and more companies are switching over to plant based bottles for their products. Renewal is a bottle water company that uses bioplastic containers to hold its water.
At the end of 2009, Coca Cola, another big name product manufacturer, introduced their Plant Bottle which is a mix of petroleum material and up to 30% of plant based plastic. As the world moves towards sustainability, you will begin to see more and more products made from plant based plastics. However, consumers must support the development of these products by closing the loop and purchasing them whenever they can.
