Friday, October 16, 2009

The US Consumes 1500 Plastic Water Bottles Every Second, a fact by Watershed

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by Petz Scholtus

MSLK Watershed Art Installation

MSLK, a New York based graphic design firm, uses art to raise awareness on the consumption of plastics. Their most recent project, Watershed, has been touring New York City during Climate Week and set the scene for benefit performances by Moby, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, and a speech by Kofi Annan during the world premiere of "The Age of Stupid". Guess what the 1500 plastic water bottles used to construct this eco-installation represent? (see video and more images below)

1500 is the number of plastic water bottles consumed in 1 second in the US!

MSLK Watershed Art Installation in NY

Here a few more shocking statistics from MSLK's Watershed installation:

Out of the 50 billion bottles of water being bought each year, 80% end up in a landfill, even though recycling programs exist.

17 million barrels of oil are used in producing bottled water each year.

Bottled water costs 1,000 times more than tap water. Drinking 2 Litres of tap water a day only costs 50 cents per year.

Plastic leaches toxins into the water, which have been linked to health problems such as reproductive issues and cancer.

New York City tap water surpasses all federal and state health standards.

Most people agree that getting rid of plastic water bottles by switching to tap water instead has a huge impact on the environment as well as our wallet, and is also much more practical. To put a stop to our habits of careless over-consumption requires individual action, which is why the graphic design studio MSLK uses art to create awareness.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/watershed-art-installation.php

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