As a human, nothing upsets me more then seeing people carelessly hurt the environment. Throughout high school, I have had the unfortunate experience of seeing firsthand how disposable plastic water bottles have been carelessly thrown into the trash, thrown out of car windows and left behind in classrooms or at school related activities and events for teachers to clean up.  

The part of high schoolers brains that make decisions and problem solve are still developing up until the age 25. Teenagers often do not think of the implications their actions have. When a teenager buys a disposable water bottle during lunch, they are usually not going to consider what effects throwing that bottle in the trash or littering may have on the environment. Out of the 50 billion bottles of water being bought each year, 80 percent end up in a landfill. A teenager’s simple action of throwing that bottle into the trash could have rippling and lasting effects on oceanic ecosystems and the environment.

Disposable plastic water bottles have become a growing problem all across the country and the globe. It is estimated that by 2050, the ocean will contain more plastic by weight than fish. If we as a society want to reduce the amount of plastic being dumped into our ocean we should stop using disposable water bottles. Banning bottled water at high schools across the country would greatly lessen the amount of plastic ending up in the oceans.

The amount of pollution produced from the making of plastic bottles is immense. More than 17 million barrels of oil are used to make plastic bottles annually, enough to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year, which is not even including the oil used for transportation. These factories producing plastic bottles are using millions of barrels of oil which is putting contaminants into the air. If high schools banned the sale of disposable plastic water bottles, the production would decrease, therefore helping lessen the impact of pollution.

High schools in the United States should ban the selling of disposable plastic water bottles. This will greatly limit the amount of plastic ending up in the ocean and reduce the extent of pollution resulting in huge benefits on the environment.