How Recycling Water Bottles Help Save the Ocean

Here at Baitium, the majority of our apparel line is made from recycled water bottles. As fishermen ourselves, we put protecting the environment, especially the ocean, at the forefront of our business. On top of recycling, portion of our profits also go to ocean and wildlife conservation efforts.

There are many reasons why we’re so invested in helping save the ocean and why we encourage other businesses to do the same.

Only 9% of all plastic waste created are recycled. The situation has become alarming enough for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to expect that plastic in the ocean will double in the next 15 years and estimate that there could be more plastic than fish in the sea (by weight) by 2050.

Conserves energy, natural resources

Recycling plastic bottles conserves two of the most used nonrenewable natural resource globally: oil and natural gas. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), one ton of recycled plastic is estimated to conserve around 3.8 barrels of crude oil.

On top of this, creating new materials from existing ones uses much less energy compared to creating them from raw materials. Another relevant EPA estimate here is that polyethylene terephthalate or PET, which is the most commonly used plastic for plastic bottles, conserves around 12,000 British thermal unit of heat energy. That accounts for around 66% less energy than the traditional manufacturing method.

Reduces waste, greenhouse gas emissions

Using raw materials to produce water bottles also releases greenhouse gases such as CO2—around three pounds of it per PET bottle, to be exact. These gases contribute to global warming and climate change. Because recycling plastic bottles uses less energy and relies on lesser fossil fuels, they end up having a lower carbon footprint.

American Chemistry Council research found that 2.5 million plastic bottles are thrown away every hour and that the average person makes use of 166 bottles every year. These plastics take hundreds of years to break down, so they’ll be sure to sail the oceans for a long period of time.

While this is all too much for a single brand’s efforts to take on, we at Baitium want to help save the ocean in our own little way.