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Plastics
I am appalled by all of the plastic bottles I see in trash at trade shows. It seems like such a waste that people throw them away.
What can we do about it?
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Did you see The Graduate? The plastics industry was growing so fast in 1967 that Mr. McGuire gave Benjamin a piece of sage advice: “I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? Plastics.”
In 1960, plastics represented one percent of the municipal waste stream. By 2009 the percentage had grown twelve-fold. Plastic water bottles are part of the wave Mr. McGuire saw coming. Global consumption of bottled water quadrupled between 1990 and 2005.
Today, according to the EPA, plastic containers and packaging account for nearly half of the plastics generated in the United States. Plastic bottles and lids are also the most common plastics to end up in landfills. Only about one-quarter of the drink bottles sold in the U.S. get recycled. That means that Americans throw more than two million tons of plastic bottles away every year. And since each ton yields 38,000–20 oz. bottles, you are just seeing the tip of a very large iceberg. It’s no wonder bottles catch your eye in trade show trash bins.
Our favorite new PETs
Americans spend about $15 billion annually on water that is sold in bottles made of a high-grade plastic called PET. According to a Columbia University study, that’s 50 billion single-use PET bottles, or an average of 167 bottles per person per year. Ironically, in a nation that offers safe drinking water just about everywhere, the two most popular brands — Pepsi’s Aquafina and Coca-Cola’s Dasani — start life as tap water.
We drink them anywhere and everywhere — on the show floor, on the road, and even in our offices where tap water is readily available. The impact of the bottled water craze is staggering. According to the Pacific Institute, it takes 3 gallons of water to generate one gallon of bottled water. And 90 percent of the bottled water’s cost isn’t for the water itself.
CleanAir.org estimates that it takes up to 2,000 times more energy to produce and transport the average bottle of water to Los Angeles than to produce the same amount of tap water. And that’s for a city that pumps its tap water over mountains from sources hundreds of miles away.
The end of life for 93 percent of all plastics used in the U.S. lies underground in landfills or at sea, where decomposed plastics harm wildlife. The recycling rate for PET is a little higher than this, but there is no escaping the fact that convenience is costly.
Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink
It’s easy enough to say that PET water bottles are wasteful. It’s another to believe it when you’ve been working the show floor for hours on end. We’ve all been there: A meeting ends, your throat is parched, and you see your next prospect walking in from the aisle. What can you do?
Create Other Options — The Greenest step is to use less of whatever is causing the problem. You might try printing your company logo on reusable bottles and issuing them to staff, or distributing them as premiums. You might rent a water cooler for the show. Or, you might try sending people out of the booth to refresh themselves between meetings. The goal is simple: Give people other options.
Encourage Recycling — The second step is to divert PET waste to recycling. Is it practical to install a bottle recycling station in your booth? Can you encourage the convention center to make recycling bins more prominent? Before becoming an on-site activist, check to see whether the hotel or convention center already sorts recyclables out of the trash behind the scenes. This is becoming a common practice in many cities, even where it doesn’t get much publicity.
Use Recycled PET — The third step is to complete the circle by using recycled PET products. Fortunately, the plastic used to contain food is extremely high quality. This means it can be recycled into other high-quality products that add genuine value to exhibit programs. One of the most promising is PET-based carpet. The National Park Service, for example, lists recycled PET among its Green carpet options because PET is so durable. Recycled-PET fabrics offer equally high quality options for graphic banners as well.
A deep irony underlies the bottled water industry: Smart people pay good money to buy something that is readily available for free. But convenience matters too. Try going Green by meeting your convenience goals in other ways, and complete the circle by using recycled PET products wherever you can.
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Tom Bowman, president of Bowman Global Change in Signal Hill, CA, works with national institutions on climate change and sustainability communications and is a frequent speaker on improving public engagement in climate and energy issues. As a green business consultant, he advises companies on cost-effective sustainability actions and has won multiple awards for developing and implementing his own firm’s successful green business plan. tom@bowmanglobalchange.com |
