Utopian Design In Society

Image taken from sbrunthiscity.blogspot.com

A Utopian design that has recently been popularized in society, though it has probably existed alongside humanity for longer than a few decades now, is the canteen. Because of recent global issues pertaining to waste and global warming, ‘going green’ has become a popular theme in the recent years; and from this need to ‘go green’ the redevelopment and redesign of the canteen has been a solution set forth to appeal to the population to hinder the consumption of bottled water.

Every year, 28.9 billion plastic water bottles are purchased by Americans, and every hour 2.5 million bottles are thrown away. The production of plastic can account for 4% of energy consumption in the United States. Plastic production also requires consumption of approximately 1.5 million barrels of petroleum on a yearly basis, which is enough to power 100,000 cars for a year. However, the resources used to create these plastic bottles are wasted and cannot be reused because only one percent of the 28.9 billion plastic bottles will ever be recycled. Though one recycled bottle can light a 60-watt light bulb for approximately six hours, and reduce greenhouse gas emission, it is estimated that 80% - 90% of the bottles will still wind up in a landfill, whose closing rate is, at the moment, estimated to be one per day.

The canteen, whose functions are identical to that of a water bottle, is a design driven to improve society and possible your finances and health, because the price of bottle water, compared to tap water, can cost up to 10,000 times more per gallon, and bottle water sold across state line is not regulated and their sources are tested only once every one to three years. 

LINKS:  treehugger care 2 make a difference bottlebegone waste facts and figures earth911