The long journey of the bottle I threw away

A bottle of water's story starts long before the store

Drinking water you bought at a store may not take long. But the plastic bottle that holds it passed through many places before it reached your hands. The SUPKids picture links those places like one long road: a place that looks for resources under the sea, a factory that makes plastic, a place that fills the bottles, a store and a home.

In this picture, the plastic water bottle starts out as oil. The oil is turned into small plastic pellets, and the pellets are made into the shape of a bottle. The bottle is filled with water, packaged and shipped, and then someone buys it. When we finish the bottle, the story of that material doesn't end. What happens next depends on where and how it is thrown away.

The original workbook goes on to explain a problem. Plastic that isn't handled properly can travel along waterways to the ocean, break into small pieces and affect living things. This journey does not mean every water bottle ends up in the ocean. It shows that we have chances to use less and to sort things properly before they reach the ocean.

Into the story

1. Find what it was before it became a bottle

   First, find the place in the picture where resources come from and the place where plastic pellets are made. Follow the order: the pellets are carried away, made into bottles at a factory, filled with water and sent to stores. You can see that materials, factories and shipping are all linked to make one thing we bring home. This is the early part of the story that you can't see when you only look at an empty bottle.

2. Look at the fork in the road after it's used

   After the bottle goes from the store to a home, the picture shows scenes of things that were thrown away. It shows plastic going into a landfill and plastic flowing into waterways. Think about this: even things that can be recycled don't get handled the right way on their own. Check the exact way to sort recycling with a grown-up, following your local rules. Keep in mind that the picture shows how things are handled in another country.

3. Read how tiny pieces and living things are connected

   When plastic in the ocean breaks into tiny pieces from things like sunlight, it gets harder to see and to collect. If a small creature eats the pieces and another animal eats that creature, the problem can pass along the food chain. The workbook also explains how animals can get tangled in old nets or packaging. Think about the difference between animals eating plastic and animals getting caught in it.

4. Find choices before it reaches the ocean

   After reading about the bottle's long journey, one thing we can do is use fewer single-use items. Think about straws, bags, balloons and packaging, not just bottles. Find one choice that works in your daily life, like bringing a bottle you already have. This activity is not about throwing everything away and buying new products. Start by talking with your family about what you really need and whether you can keep using what you already have.