Reusable water bottles, a breath of fresh air for the planet

Each year, for lack of recycling, up to 13 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans. Once in the landfill, the plastic will contaminate flora and fauna for hundreds of years. The examples can be shocking, it takes 100 years for a lighter to decompose, plastic bags take 450 years to decompose and a bottle of water will take up to 1,000 years to disappear completely!

The Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres said "If nothing changes, the oceans will contain more plastic than fish (by weight) by 2050".
According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are 150 million tonnes of plastic in the oceans today. Scientists even speak of the "seventh continent of plastic," referring to a floating landfill in the Pacific Ocean.

The ingestion of plastic waste is the cause of the mortality of approximately 660 species, among them the turtles which confuse the pieces of floating plastic with jellyfish. Recently, 40 kilograms of plastic were found in the belly of a whale in the Philippines.

Plastic is now ubiquitous in our environment and represents a danger to human health. It constantly interacts with the environment and eventually enters the human body by ingestion, inhalation or direct contact. As a result, more and more microfibers and plastic particles are found in human tissues and blood systems.

The potent endocrine disruptor bisphenol A and some plastic additives are present in more than 90% of the world's population, including newborns.
A study in nine countries by researchers under the direction of Sherri Mason, professor at New York State University in Fredonia, on 250 bottles of water from around the world has shown that water in bottle is contaminated with tiny plastic particles.

"There is a link with certain types of cancer, the decrease in the quantity of sperm or with the increase in certain diseases such as attention deficit disorder or autism," said Professor Sherri Mason.

Jacqueline Savitz, North America manager for the NGO Oceana, believes that this study provides another reason to restrict the production of plastic water bottles and said "It is more urgent than ever today to make plastic water bottles a thing of the past."

What can we do in this case?

Let's start by stopping the consumption of water in disposable plastic bottles and replacing them with reusable water bottles, and make sure to fill them with tap water. In Canada, tap water is as good as bottled water and even more, since it will never be contaminated with plastic. Adding to this, in Quebec during the year tap water is tested 170,000 times against only 52 times for bottled water.

In order to comply with the implementation of sustainable development actions and corporate and citizen eco-responsibility, Location EMPRESS, as well as Centre du camion U.T.R. and HINO Montreal have been removing plastic water bottles since several weeks.

Pierre Martin, President and Chief Executive Officer, offers to all employees, staff members, administrators, representatives, salespeople and collaborators at Location EMPRESS, as well as Centre du camion U.T.R. and HINO Montreal a reusable water bottle to hydrate.

This initiative is part of a range of actions that Mr. Martin is committed to implementing within Location EMPRESS, as well as Centre du camion U.T.R. and HINO Montreal and thus help reduce the environmental footprint at work.