Plastic water bottle sales have increased by 225 percent since the 90s and Americans consume 10 billion liters of bottled water a year. The average American consumes about 167 plastic bottles a year, but only 38 are recycled. That means 77% of the bottles will either end up in landfills or somewhere in the environment. In landfills, they will sit there forever since they are not biodegradable. That is if the plastic ends up in a landfill. About 8 million metric tons of plastic make their way into the ocean every year, and of that 8 million, the most common is PET (the material plastic bottles are made of).

While these numbers are staggering, they are not even the worst of our problems. Carbonated drinks require more than double the amount of plastic than water bottles to contain the carbonation. Processed drinks are consumed at a slightly smaller rate than water so the figures above are just as prevalent to these drinks. Processed drinks have no health benefits and are far more harmful than water bottles.

The top 1300 scientists from 95 countries have predicted in the United Nation's Climate Change report that there will be a global ecological disaster in 50 years. It is our responsibility to do everything in our power to prevent this. Even on SLU's campus, we can start making small yet vital changes. This campus already sells limited options of plastic processed drinks. They are found in vending machines and a few restaurants, but otherwise, our school is good about freestyle pop machines and reusable cups. It would not be hard to replace these harmful plastics and replace them with aluminum cans.

Sign this petition to show your support for a more eco-friendly campus!