In recent newsletters (Sign up here if you’re not already in the know), we have been asking the Sustainable Shanti community to look seriously at their daily habits and choices with the understanding that each of us impacts the planet with every decision.  I remind people I meet that we do not have a Planet B; our daily actions have a collective momentum, but we need to consciously choose in which direction it moves.

I’m going to fess up to a pet peeve: plastic bottles.  Soda bottles, water bottles, beverage bottles in general.  They are ubiquitous, seen all across the world: a symbol of convenience.  They also happen to be incredibly destructive to our planet’s health.  You’ve heard the spiel to get a reusable steel water bottle: they’re good for the planet; they save you money; they’re convenient to have around.

So why do I see people still using plastic bottles as if there’s an unlimited supply and no consequences to their use?

If you’re still attached to your plastic bottle habit, consider this: In 2006….

• Producing the bottles for American consumption required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil, not including the energy for transportation

• Bottling water produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide

• It took 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water.

(Data from Pacific Institute)

Is our planet’s health worth those resources?  Is it worth two liters of water just to have one liter of bottled water?  Think you could try switching from bottled water to tap water in a reusable steel bottle?  It’s one more step towards reducing your daily oil consumption.

Every choice we make, every dollar we spend is a vote and has an impact.  Your power lies in how and where you vote.

Small changes, big impacts.  It will take everyone–governments and businesses included–working together to find new solutions to our climate crisis.