It seems like all there is these days is reductions. Reducing jobs. Reducing income. Reducing health care. But maybe reductions aren’t always bad. When we can reduce our environmental footprint, it is always a good thing. Whether it is through limiting the amount of plastic water bottles we drink, recycling more, or purchasing a drinking water system or a bottleless water cooler, we can each do our part in environmental responsibility.

The numbers are alarming with the amount of plastic water bottles bought, trashed, and so on. Not only are plastic water bottles a financial nightmare when compared to the cost of tap water in a year, but the expense to our environment is worse than all the dollar signs put together. You see, according to the EPA, over 1,125,000,000 pints of bottled water were sold in the United States in 2011. The EPA estimates that less than 15% of those plastic water bottles are recycled; the rest go into landfills or are discarded as litter. The US consumes 1500 plastic water bottles every second, and of the “50 million” bottles of water bought each year, 80% end up in a landfill even where recycling programs exist! It takes 1,000 years for plastic water bottles to biodegrade.

But, that’s not the end of the story – we’re just getting started. More costs come in the production of the plastic used for both water bottles and the large plastic water coolers which also “seem to be a responsible purchase” but could be better. Plastic water bottles waste precious fuel plastic water bottles are made from petroleum and it takes over 1.5 million barrels of oil (although some advocates suggest this number is much higher) a year to produce the plastic for the water bottles consumed in the U.S. in one year – enough to fuel over 100,000 U.S. cars for an entire year. Those large plastic containers waste even more petroleum to make and water to clean by the companies when they are switched out. A bottleless water cooler, on the other hand, could save all of the resources discussed here. You can still get the safe drinking water you desire, but conserve water, petroleum, and hey – even money!

Reducing plastic water bottles is just a start. Imagine if there were 75% less plastic bottle waste from cleaners, detergents, shampoos, conditioners and even lotions? With a water softener, your family could use up to 75% less detergents, cleaners, shampoos and conditioners. Hard water requires larger quantities of soap to get a lather, leaves spots on fixtures, kitchen and bath surfaces, dishes, glasses and silverware, and even makes your skin dry and itchy and your hair brittle. With a water softening system, you use up to 75% less cleaners, detergents, shampoos, conditioners and lotions, toss 75% less plastic waste, and 75% less soap and detergent gets flushed into the water system. With this simple step, you could do your part for the environment.

Look into a water cooler  that is bottleless, or an eco-friendly water softener today.