Plastic bottles can release dangerous chemicals into your water
When you expose plastic bottles to heat — from being left in the sun, your car, or being run through the dishwasher — it can cause the outer layers of plastic to break down. Plastics marked with recycle codes 3 or 7 can release a chemical called bisphenol A (BPA), while BPA-free plastics can release bisphenol S (BPS). Even in small amounts, BPA and BPS mimic estrogen, which can change the way your endocrine system functions and increase your risk for chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, asthma, and cancer.
Refilling Plastic Bottles Could Expose You to Dangerous Bacteria
Unlike glass or metal bottles, both reusable and disposable plastic bottles break down from regular use. Even small cracks can harbor bacteria such as norovirus and E. coli. A recent study from the Canadian Journal of Public Health found nearly two-thirds of bottles sampled had bacterial levels that exceeded drinking water guidelines.
All plastic bottles contain fossil fuels
Most people don’t realize it, but all plastic drinking bottles contain petroleum byproducts. So every time you purchase one of these bottles, you are consuming a tiny portion of the world’s limited supply of oil. Beverage companies then use fuel to transport the bottles all over the world, polluting the atmosphere in the process.
They create trash
Even though plastic drinking bottles are recyclable, most end up in landfills or as litter. According to the Sierra Club, consumers trash about 24 billion plastic bottles in the U.S. each year. When you throw away a plastic drinking bottle, it will sit in a landfill for hundreds of years without decomposing.
Disposable water bottles are expensive
For about the price of one bottle of water (about $2), you can get approximately 1,000 gallons of tap water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Source: Livestrong Foundation