If you’ve been following our adventure for a while, you’re quite familiar with our mission of eliminating plastic waste and improving the health of our planet, not just with our sustainable self-cleaning water bottles, but also with our philanthropic initiatives. We’re proud members of 1% for the Planet, a network of nonprofit organizations and like-minded businesses that are proactively saving the world. 

What’s the problem, anyway? 

Every minute, 1 million single-use plastic bottles are purchased. If we don’t act now, this number is predicted to increase by 20% by 2021. In addition, only 9% of plastic ever produced has been recycled. 

So, where does it all end up?

Plastic ends up in landfills, littered all over the world, and in rivers that lead to our oceans. They take approximately 1,000 years to decompose, simultaneously leaching toxic chemicals like BPA (Bisphenol-A), a known carcinogen into marine life, soil, and consequently, our food. The average person ingests about 70,000 microplastics a year–that’s about 100 pieces of plastic per meal. With this, comes long-term consequences to your health, which is why our passion for ending single-use plastic consumption is so great.

As the world’s single-use plastic consumption is skyrocketing in today’s climate, we were eager to find a nonprofit to partner with that can help. We’re proud to announce that we’ve partnered up with Plastic Bank to help clean up our oceans. 

Plastic Bank has employed over 4300+ collectors around the world to intercept ocean-bound plastic. Our impact helps clean up the ocean and provides a living wage to families in developing countries like Haiti, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Plastic Bank translates the plastic collected into currency, ethically boosting local economies, and educating the next generation about waste management and its environmental impacts. Plastic Bank is also the only platform that directly impacts 14 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and indirectly supports the remaining 3.
With Plastic Bank, every $1 helps to prevent 100 single-use plastic bottles from entering the ocean. We’ve partnered with Plastic Bank to remove 1 million ocean-bound single-use plastic bottles. Together we can make an even greater impact.
oStarting May 12, 1% of every LARQ Bottle or LARQ Bottle Movement purchase helps to remove ocean-bound plastic waste. 

What can you do?

1. Refuse single-use plastic as much as possible. Letting go of our dependence on single-use plastic like plastic wrap, bottled water, plastic utensils, and plastic bags will have a huge impact on our health and the future of our world. It may be difficult now, in many ways, we can end our dependence on single-use plastic and explore reusable options instead–even during a pandemic. If you’re looking for substitutions for normal household single-use plastic, check out our article on ways to live a more sustainable plastic-free lifestyle with some reusable swaps. 
2. By switching to a sustainable water bottle like LARQ, you can help keep 1,460 plastic bottles per year from ending up in the ocean. 
3. Support environmental nonprofits like Plastic Bank either by a direct donation or by purchasing a LARQ Bottle or LARQ Bottle Movement. Every purchase helps remove plastic waste from the ocean! 
4. Educate those around you about the impact of single-use plastic waste, and be an advocate for living a plastic-free lifestyle. 

For those who can, we encourage you to take action. Together, we can make a change.