1000 Flowers for the Planet - #524 Travel With a Steripen

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #524 Travel With a Steripen

Travelling is one of the most rewarding things one can do. Unfortunately, these days there is a dire side-effect to travelling – plastic water bottles. Most people are aware that when they travel they should not drink the local water, because it is likely to cause stomach upset and can cause vomiting and/or diarrhoea. Consequently, people take advantage of the convenience of buying water in plastic bottles. They are a convenient size, fit easily in bags and have a screw top lid enabling the user to sip at leisure but still be able to seal the bottle properly. Sadly, all of this leads to a huge amount of waste. Travellers are less able to put their empty water bottles into a recycling program, so they end up in landfill. This is a huge problem for the environment, but there is a good solution: Travel with a SteriPEN®.

A SteriPEN is a portable devise able to be used by individuals to sterilise water [http://www.steripen.com/]. It destroys viruses, bacteria and protozoa, making the water safe to drink while you’re busy investigating the corners of the globe. Using this device will save the planet from thousands (dare I suggest millions) of unnecessary plastic bottles – you can travel with one bottle that you refill each time you stop for the night (and if you really want to look after the environment, that single bottle will be an aluminium one). In this way the planet will be able to breathe a little easier, when we reduce the amount of resources being used in the manufacture of plastic bottles, reduce carbon emissions, reduce reliance on fossil fuel, reduce landfill, and better protect our environment.