If you're a savvy shopper, you probably know that buying bottled water is bad for your health and bad for the planet. But the only thing worse than drinking bottled water is just throwing it away. Unfortunately, a Walmart employee recently exposed the chain doing exactly that.
what's happening?
A Reddit user who claims to work at Walmart recently posted a photo from the store's back room of a pile of water bottles waiting to be disposed of, totaling several gallons of water.
“They say we can't drink it and have to throw it away,” one Reddit user complained, claiming that Walmart is “forcing us to throw away gallons of perfectly good water every day.”
Why is this water waste important?
“There are many parts of our country alone that are experiencing serious water crises, and yet Walmart is throwing this stuff in the trash,” the original poster pointed out, adding, “This should be made public.”
The drought in California, Arizona, Colorado and other parts of the United States is having a major impact. Many people are facing water restrictions and rising water prices. Unfortunately, big corporations don't seem to be acting proactively to reduce water waste.
To make matters worse, the plastic bottles left behind after the water is dumped are themselves problematic. Plastic waste releases harmful microplastics that can contaminate soil and water and eventually be ingested by humans, causing unknown health hazards. Meanwhile, plastic materials take more than 100 years to decompose, so they end up in landfills or remain trash forever.
Is Walmart doing anything about this?
Walmart has been accused on multiple occasions of throwing away merchandise that employees and local residents want to buy or donate.
But the company also prides itself on its efforts to reduce waste and recycle discarded products: As of 2020, the company diverted more than 80% of food waste worldwide from landfills and incineration, and donated 627 million pounds of food in the U.S., according to its website.
What can be done about water waste?
The more people who buy reusable water bottles and refill them at home, the less incentive Walmart and other companies will have to sell bottled water, and the more bottles will hopefully be thrown away when companies take bottled water off their shelves. This means less plastic waste ends up in landfills and in the environment.
Meanwhile, there are ways to reduce water waste at home. You can switch from a water-guzzling lawn to a native lawn with species that are adapted to your area's natural rainfall and don't need extra water.
You can also install water-saving fixtures and equipment in your home, which is not only good for the environment but also good for your wallet as it will reduce your monthly energy bills.
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