Although the bottled water industry has received a lot of bad publicity over the years because of their lack of recycling, this may soon be about to change. The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) has revealed that there has been an increase of approximately 20% in the recycling of single-use PET water bottles during the past year. This means that approximately 39% of these bottles are now being recycled. Thinner Bottles Than Before While PET water bottles were previously thicker plastic, the weight of them has dropped significantly over the years to just under the ten gram mark which signifies a weight reduction of almost 48%. The most recently available data has shown that out of 1.3 billion pounds of PET bottles that are currently in circulation, approximately 500 million pounds were recycled. This means that bottled water companies are starting to take their responsibility towards the environment seriously. Reduce the Need for Bottled Water Almost Anywhere One of the easiest ways to reduce the need for bottled water containers is to consider installing plumbed in water coolers for the office or a domestic water filter for the home. These water dispensers will enable you to have fresh drinking water on tap whenever it is required. An added advantage of plumbed in water coolers and domestic water filters is that they are very easy to install. Other places that can benefit from having mains fed water dispensers include schools, hospitals and gyms where fresh, clean water is a necessity. No More Rushing to the Shop or Supplier Plumbed in water dispensers will also reduce the need for unscheduled shopping trips as home owners will be able to have cold drinking water on tap in the comfort of their home. Businesses will also benefit from this too as it means that they will no longer have to take time out of their busy working day to purchase water bottles from suppliers. Hospitals will no longer need to keep large supplies of bottled water on hand for patients as they will now have fresh drinking water on demand. If you are a business or individual and are interested in reducing your carbon footprint, installing a mains fed water dispenser will help to reduce the need for drivers being on the road delivering water. To discuss your requirements further please contact the Water Coolers Direct team today on 0800 7311 491 who can take you through the different options available. You can also check our Bottled V's Plumbed in Water Cooler Calculator to see just how much money you could be saving when switching to a plumbed in water cooler.