Every hour, Americans use and throw away 2.5 million plastic water bottles…that’s 60 million in just one day! Less than a quarter of those are recycled; the rest are incinerated, end up in landfills, litter our neighborhoods or end up floating in our oceans. North of Hawaii, millions of plastic water bottles and other indestructible plastic items are trapped by the circular currents of the Northern Pacific Gyre. It is one of five gyres – slow-moving whirlpools - found in oceans around the world.

Many people prefer bottled water because of its perceived purity and safety, but up to 50 percent of the bottled water Americans consume is simply ordinary tap water. In some cases, bottled water is just repackaged municipal water that has or has not been filtered or further purified. Regulations to insure the safety of municipal water are set by the EPA, while those for bottled water are set by the FDA. Furthermore, the FDA does not require bottled water companies to disclose to consumers where the water came from, how or if it was treated or what contaminants it contains.