This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience while browsing it. By clicking 'Got It' you're accepting these terms.
Most recent
Trending
The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
WATCH: This Plastic Challenge Will Inspire You to Make a Difference
Can you go 21 days without using plastic water bottles? Well, you've been challenged. Too easy of a challenge for you? Share the idea with your friends and family. Imagine if the entire world went 21 days without consuming plastic bottles.
Let's make 2019 the year of plastic pollution solutions. We have unimaginable power as consumers to create a better world for our children.
You've Been Challenged
EcoWatch teamed up with China's first professional surfer Darci Liu and #5minutebeachcleanup founder Carolina Sevilla to create an exciting challenge to help you on your path to making a huge difference on this planet. Get engaged with your friends and family and embark with us on this journey.
It's simple: refuse plastic bottles for 21 days, talk about it on social media, hashtag #PlasticBottlesChallenge and reflect on your experience for a week via social media posts. Let us know via social media direct messaging if this challenge has made a difference in your life. Mention @EcoWatch, @5minutebeachcleanup and @take__away_from_the_sea so we can consider featuring your experience in our Instagram story.
We Need a Massive Shift
"We get used to very easy lifestyles," said Liu, but we've got to shift our mindsets and move away from the single-use mentality.
"What we need to realize is how much that bottle has traveled to be where you are," said Sevilla as she spoke about the carbon footprint of plastic water bottles. We are responsible for the destruction happening on this planet. Sevilla urged viewers to get engaged, reject single-use plastic and realize that "this can really make an impact."
Plastic Is Wreaking Havoc On Our Health
"It's way healthier for us to bring our own water bottles" instead of consuming whatever bottles of water or beverages are available when we are on the go, said Liu. Plastic Pollution Coalition points out in the above Instagram post that we are still learning about the health implications of plastic.
Plastic Bottles or Tap Water?
93 percent of bottled water contains microplastics. The chemicals used in plastic bottles create these microplastics. Have we all processed the fact that these chemicals do leach into the liquid, and thus end up in our systems as well?
Coke, Pepsi and Nestlé Are World's Biggest Producers of Plastic Trash
Liu lives on Hainan Island China where she has direct connection to the ocean each day, a rare opportunity considering most of China is away from the sea.
"Every single day there is more trash in the ocean next to me while I'm surfing," said Liu. "Kids ask me the question why there are so many plastic bottles in the ocean. I don't know how to answer the kids."
At this point, you likely have a solid understanding of the importance of this challenge. So find yourself a water bottle that you enjoy drinking from, and be sure you have access to a water refill station or water filtration system if needed. You are officially a change maker and an #EcoWatcher committed to making a difference.
- WATCH: Inspiring & Easy Way to Make a Huge Difference ... ›
- 22 Facts About Plastic Pollution (And 10 Things We Can Do About It ... ›
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
By Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope
It's been 30 years since Bill McKibben rang the warning bells about the threat of man-made climate change — first in a piece in The New Yorker, and then in his book, The End of Nature.
Thousands of protestors marched in front of Frankfurt's International Motor Show (IAA) on Saturday to show their disgust with the auto industry's role in the climate crisis. The protestors demanded an end to combustion engines and a shift to more environmentally friendly emissions-free vehicles, as Reuters reported.
By Elizabeth Streit, MS, RDN, LD
Sweet and regular potatoes are both tuberous root vegetables, but they differ in appearance and taste.
They come from separate plant families, offer different nutrients, and affect your blood sugar differently.
Trending
By Julia Conley
In addition to devastating effects on bee populations and the pollination needed to feed humans and other species, widely-used pesticides chemically related to nicotine may be deadly to birds and linked to some species' declines, according to a new study.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government is set to unveil a package of measures on Friday, Sept. 20, to ensure that the country cuts its greenhouse gas emissions 55% by 2030, compared with the 1990 levels.
Trending
California ended its 2019 legislative session Saturday without passing two bills that would have led the nation in tackling plastic pollution, The Mercury News reported.
Record rainfall and flooding in southeastern Spain killed six people as of Saturday, The New York Times reported.