they’re a huge trash problem, especially since only 1 out of every 5 bottles are actually recycled. to the majority of americans once the problem is out of sight, it’s also out of mind.

why recycle? here are three ideas:

1. save the future without having to time-travel: plastic bottles take up to 1,000 years to decompose. to put this in perspective, about 1000 years ago the first europeans had just landed in north america, vikings still fought on the oceans, and the classic mayan civilization had just collapsed. imagine if they had plastic bottles back then: we would still have to live with the waste today. that doesn’t sound so pleasant now, does it?
2. what’s that big buzzword nowadays? jobs. recycling creates jobs. recycling a ton of waste will pay $101 more in salaries and wages, produce $275 more in goods and services, and generate $135 more in sales than disposing of it in a landfill. if congress wants to create jobs, maybe it should stop being so trashy.
3. control how your taxes are spent. we’re sorry we can’t just magically lower your taxes for you. however, you do have control over how well the money is spent depending on your recycling habits. according to the epa, the energy conserved by recycling one plastic bottle can light a 60-watt light bulb for six hours or power a computer for 25 minutes. that’s also money saved by your state’s government on energy bills, which can then be spent elsewhere: hopefully somewhere more productive… like catching up to china in the clean tech race. 

max chen is a senior majoring in business at the george washington university. musadiq bidar and nimet kirac are seniors majoring in journalism at the george washington university.

of course, who would ever drink tap water when you could just drink bottled water: safe, cheap, and convenient?

lately, more people are questioning whether or not bottled water is actually better than tap water. here are the facts; but, the decision is yours:

safety: according to the natural resources defense council (nrdc), which has also conducted extensive tests on municipal water supplies as well as bottled water, says: “in the short term, if you are an adult with no special health conditions, and you are not pregnant, then you can drink most cities’ tap water without having to worry.” tap water is regulated dozens of times daily by huge facilities in every state. you can find the quality of your tap water online. bottled water, on the other hand, is not required to submit any quality reports.

cost: brands like aquafina or dasani are sold for at least $1 a bottle… even though they are essentially just bottled tap water… tap water, which you can get for nearly free. why pay more for the same stuff? beats me! 

waste: it takes three bottles of water and one bottle of gasoline to produce one bottle of water. for tap water, this impact is nearly zero. additionally, 4 of 5 bottles of water never make it to the recycling stream, but rather contaminate our water systems or landfills.

convenience: is bottled water really more convenient than tap water? well, when you think about it, you have to actually go to a grocery store to buy tap water and then bring it back with you. however, most places have a tap, or at least a water fountain, where you can easily obtain tap water. you can also fill up your reusable water bottles with tap water to go! water bottles also come in all sorts of shapes and sizes!

max chen is a senior majoring in business at the george washington university.