Building Your Own Solutions: Eliminate Single-use Plastic Water Bottles - Sailors for the Sea

Building Your Own Solutions: Eliminate Single-use Plastic Water Bottles

The oceans face a massive and growing threat from something you encounter every day: plastics. An estimated 33 billion pounds of plastic pollution enters the ocean every year. That’s roughly equivalent to dumping two garbage trucks full of plastic into the oceans every minute. The results are devastating for marine ecosystems and animals, like sea turtles, which often mistake plastic for food. 

PROBLEM 

Forty percent of plastics currently used are single-use plastics – made from a material designed to last forever but used only for a few moments before being discarded. Plastic beverage bottles are consistently in the top five most collected items at beach clean-ups around the world, according to the International Coastal Cleanup. 

Without a potable water source, ensuring adequate hydration for sailors out on the water all day can be a challenge. Often, events or clubs have to turn to single-use water bottles, which end up producing a lot of waste throughout the event.  

SOLUTION 

There are a variety of strategies available to fit different locations, venues, and audiences to reduce the need for single-use plastic water bottles at your club or during your event. One DIY solution is building your own portable water filtration system. Depending on the system you build, the water filtration device can remove sediment, and chemical and bacterial contaminants, while also improving the taste of the water.  

Interested in building your own portable water filtration device for your club or event? Check out our DIY Instructions.  

Installation Considerations: 

  • Ensure that the water filtration system you choose is meant for the water source(s) available. 
  • Check with your local municipality to determine if there are any regulations necessary to follow before installing the system at your facility. 
  • Communicate ahead of time that single-use water bottles will not be offered. Inform people that a water refill station is available and to bring their own reusable bottles or cups.
  • Ensure the water refill station is set up in a strategic location depending on your venue (ex. where there will be a lot of foot traffic) with proper signage so that it is easily identifiable.