We all know box juice and box milk. How about box water?
Jamaica’s Minister with Responsibility for the Environment Daryl Vaz and Prime Minister Andrew Holness seemed to love the idea at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York. They tweeted photos of two sizes of boxes made of paper, an alternative to plastic bottles.
“Never thought I would get this happy over a box,” tweeted Minister Vaz.
Over the weekend, we saw mountains of waste – dominated, as usual, by plastic bottles – on International Coastal Cleanup Day. The organizers, Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), are still tallying the quantity and recording data on types of trash collected. But Eastern Portland alone reportedly collected nearly 1,000 pounds of plastic bottles!
“By 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish,” tweeted Minister Vaz, referring to a frightening report released in 2016. The report predicted that, if things continued along the same track, “the ocean is expected to contain one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish [by weight].”
According to the manufacturers, Boxed Water is Better, its entire carton is recyclable, including the cap. The water is pure, they say, and responsibly sourced. As cities and countries around the world began announcing bans on various types of single use plastic, the ten-year-old company is heading in the right direction.
Is this an opportunity for Jamaican water producers? Let’s see!
