In our modern era of heightened environmental awareness, many of us are on the lookout for practical ways to help the environment in our daily lives. In addition to walking or cycling more, plastic and paper recycling, and solar panels, filtering your own water is a great way to reduce your environmental footprint.
When you switch to a Berkey water filter for your home, you're making a small but important contribution to the global environmental movement. Real, sustainable change involves collective effort on all of our parts to drive social consciousness and repair the escalating damage that humans have caused since the Industrial Revolution.
Here is how and why a water filtration system helps the environment.
The Plastic Epidemic
Plastic waste is an epidemic. Although it might seem like something out of a science fiction movie or dystopian fantasy, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a real-life floating vortex of mostly plastic waste in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is currently twice the size of Texas. Every day, as more and more plastic waste accumulates, it grows bigger. In addition to hurting wildlife in the sea, plastic is also detrimental to human health. Ecologists have long warned of the tipping point when environments cannot absorb any more plastic waste and serious collapse begins.
Plastic comes in many forms, but one of the main sources of consumer packaging for plastic is water bottles. Plastic water bottles are everywhere. Many of us might not even consider that, one by one, these bottles accumulate, eventually forming state-sized masses in the ocean.
As an alternative a home water filtration system and recyclable water containers add no plastic waste to the environment.
Defund the Bottled Water Industry
Bottled water giants like Nestle rely on the commodification of water – that is, they own the water. What we will come to realize in the future is that water, not oil, is the most precious commodity on Earth. We can expect conflict to break out as the world's freshwater supplies dwindle and demand increases. We will need an equitable system of treating, safeguarding and distributing water to prevent hoarding by private interests. The time is now to reclaim our water rights to protect our future.
Microplastics
Scientists have only become aware in the last few decades of the emergent threat of microplastics. Microplastics simply refer to plastic materials that are smaller than 5 millimeters long. Once released into the environment, microplastics leave toxic particles everywhere they travel – including inside the human gut. Of course, microplastics come from many industries and materials, but plastic water bottles are major contributors to the problem.
Removing Toxic Chemicals
A water filtration system is a small boost to the overtaxed public filtration system. Many toxins are removed from the water supply by local treatment centers, but they don't catch them all. Most water supplies are contaminated with a whole range of nasty substances, including pesticide and agricultural runoff, traces of pharmaceutical drugs, and heavy metals. But most of these problems will go away once you get the best Tyent water ionizer to help clean and maintain the water system in your home. When your water filtration system captures these substances and removes them, you've just made the environment (and your body) a little healthier with the removal of those toxins.
Conclusion
Water filters are excellent means of eliminating unnecessary waste. Indirectly, filtering systems benefit the environment. You can do your own healthy lifestyle and the environment's huge favors at the same time by investing in a quality water filtration system.
