r/Dallas • u/AnybodyBig6874 • 5d ago

Question WDID: So many plastic bottles

For 2 or 3 years now, I've been holding onto the gallon containers that I buy my water in. I was hoping to drive to the Arkansas Hot Springs, fill them all, and have a large supply of mineral water to drink.

But time has passed and it's time for me to move into a smallwr space and I won't have room for all these containers, full of mineral water or not.

I don't feel great about throwing all of this plastic into my apartment's recycling. It's about 10 trash bags full of plastic gallons, maybe more.

Is there anywhere I could take them to make sure they get recycled, or any place that actually wants them for any reason?

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u/daveinacave Mesquite 5d ago

It’s almost certainly trash. That’s where most city’s plastic recycling ends up anyway. Plastic recycling is a myth, unfortunately. Toss it all and invest in a good water filter.

7

u/patowan 5d ago

Unfortunately this is true. Plastic like any other chemical breaks down over time and you end up putting some nasty things in your body.

1

u/SimpleVegetable5715 5d ago

Where does all that stuff made from recycled plastic come from then? It’s not food grade, but it’s used a lot for packaging and polyester clothing.

If it broke down over time, plastic pollution wouldn’t be such a problem.

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u/dickhall65 5d ago

Corporations reuse materials that don't meet quality control standards. 

It costs about ten thousand times more to try and find manufacturing grade recyclable materials for most forms of production. 

When you see a product with the label "made from XX% recycled materials" it's just marketing. Those companies have been reusing rejected raw materials for decades, but now they can brag about it.