Going to the pool is a summer classic. Here are 5 ways you can keep your summer fun, while also doing your part to help our threatened environment.
1. Bike or walk to the pool. Especially if the pool is in your neighborhood, biking or walking can be a short trip that is fun for the whole family. Driving cars releases greenhouse gases, further worsening climate change and costing much more money than biking or walking, What's more, the cool pool water will feel even nicer after getting a bit sweaty during your bike ride or walk to the pool!!
2. Bring reusable water bottles. On a hot summer day, hydration is a must, but you don’t need to buy any single-use plastics like water bottles to do so. Save money while not contributing to our plastic problem which kills millions of marine animals a year, requires tremendous amounts of greenhouse gases to produce, and leeches harmful chemical into the environment when the plastics go through their slow process of degrading.
3. Buy your swimwear from an ECO-friendly company. The green economy is alive and well. Here is a good link for women’s ECO-friendly swimwear. For men, try here.
4. Buy PVC-free pool toys. PVC is made from oil, takes longer than any other common plastic to degrade, and has been shown to increase the rate of cancer, kidney disease, and reproductive problems in animals. Check out this guide to buying PVC-free pool toys.
5. Recycle your sunscreen bottles. Not everyone knows this, but almost all sunscreen bottles are recyclable. If you have a metal sunscreen bottle, it is most certainly made of aluminum which is easily recyclable. If you have a plastic sunscreen bottle, check to see if has a number 2 or a number 4 on its recycling logo. If it’s a number 2, throw it in the recycling bin, but if it’s a number 4, you’ll have to throw it in the trash.
Austin Smith is a freshman at Deep Springs College and is a summer intern for PEA. He became interested in environmentalism in high school and is planning to major in environmental science and policy