Hi I am a Helping Ninja! Everyday people use plastic water bottles. There are many bad things people do with water bottles, but it is not only littering. Littering is a major problem to the environment and the world, but bottled water is also affecting people’s health. My friend’s father is a scientist and pharmaceutical cancer researcher – and he was telling me and my parents about the new findings they are finding in regards to the potential harm of bottled water. Drinking bottled water can cause serious health problems. First of all bottled water is tapped water, tapped water itself is very unhealthy. But the bottle itself is causing a big problem; plastic bottles are made of plastic, but imagine drinking melted plastic? It sounds unrealistic, but when we leave plastic bottles in the sun – or just out in at all in general, they melt into the water. This means that we could be drinking plastic. If brought into the body, plastic can become poison. The melted plastic can not be digested by the stomach, so it will head to the liver. The liver will try to digest the plastic and it will cause severe liver problems. For example, this can cause liver cancer. Just by drinking from a plastic water bottle, people can die. I wish my school would create awareness about this, and find an alternative to using and selling plastic water bottles. How can my school be “green” if we are polluting ourselves and the world with the promotion of plastic bottles?
Siddarth, Age 11, Helping Ninjas, Fifth Grade, Carmel, IN
