Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2021 February 3

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February 3

Single use plastic

I've recently bought a disposable water filter for a jug and the package says "Reduce single use plastic". Since the filter itself is plastic and assuming it's the manufacturer's responsibility to produce non-plastic filters, I consider "reduce single use plastic" directed towards consumers a bit taunting and mocking. And per Brita (company), the manufacturer in question, "the filters can be recycled", which also makes that reduce plastic warning redundant. So does it make sense? 212.180.235.46 (talk) 12:28, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

I believe the message is about plastic water-bottles. Between the lines they're stating that decanting from a Brita into a re-usable bottle is a good thing, and well done you, rather than buying those one-use plastic water bottles. I agree it's a poorly directed message and reads like an accusation. Zindor (talk) 12:53, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

Context Is for Kings. The context here is a product that you use for filtering tap water. Britas aren't meant to be used to filter bottled water. So, by using a Brita instead of bottled water, you are reducing the amount of single use plastics since you aren't using single use plastic water bottles. Even the Brita filter itself isn't really a single use product; you use it to filter water again and again for months. The amount of water going through it is far greater than the amount of water that would be contained in single use plastic water bottles with an equivalent amount of plastic. --OuroborosCobra (talk) 18:24, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

Just in case there's any doubt, their website makes it clear that they're talking about the waste generated by bottled water.

“Single-use plastic bottles are destroying our planet. With Brita, you can enjoy great-tasting water without the waste.[1]”

ApLundell (talk) 23:43, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

Are you sure this was the literal text? If so, it is a bit crummy; it should be "single-use plastic waste" – what is being reduced is not the plastic (the incredible shrinking bottle) but the plastic waste. If this was not the literal text, perhaps it said, "reduces single-use plastic waste".  --Lambiam 10:18, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

One important thing to note about bottled water. Unless you live in an area without access to safe drinking water (and there are a LOT of people in that situation, so don't get me wrong), bottled water is basically pointless. If you live in a major western city with a municipal water supply, the water in your bottled water is just drawn from the same water supply as your kitchen tap gives you. It's going to be produced in a local bottling plant, which may (but often does not) do some rudimentary filtering such as would be done by a Brita-type filter (but on a larger scale). When you buy bottled water, you're basically paying for just the bottle, and if you have containers in your house that can hold water, and a kitchen tap that delivers water from your local municipal water source, there's no conceivable advantage to drink bottled water. --Jayron32 14:08, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

This may be true in the USA, but isn't true elsewhere. Our (UK) tap water has detectable chlorine in it. The bottled water we can buy comes from many different places and contains differing levels of minerals, so will taste different. The one I usually buy is from Evian in France.--Phil Holmes (talk) 08:16, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Note that here "detectable" means: detectable by the unaided human sense of smell.  --Lambiam 10:21, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Not sure that I've ever tasted chlorine (like from a swimming pool) in British tap water, but the taste is certainly variable by location. Here (to the north of London) the taste is more neutral than most bottled water in my opinion. Where my Mum lives 60 miles away in Colchester, most people use a filter because of the slightly unpleasant taint, which I assume is due to the local geology. What the carbon footprint of carrying water all the way from France is, I can only imagine, especially as we have so much drinkable water of our own. Alansplodge (talk) 12:46, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

It is also true in many parts of the U.S.; you can get any number of different kinds of bottled water for your own purposes. If it is important enough for you to increase plastic waste and excessive shipping pollution to have French water, good for you! You should be proud. The shareholders and marketing executives of that corporation thank you heartily for doing your part to increase their wealth at the expense of the environment. --Jayron32 14:46, 5 February 2021 (UTC)