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Everybody is talking about recycling water bottles now-a-days. We probably should – the US alone purchased 26 billion water bottles in 2005. That’s up from 4 billion in 1997. Looking at my water bottles there is the little recycle symbol on the bottom. They look something like this:

So, in my curiosity, I wanted to know what those numbers meant. I had always heard about reusing only the good bottles and other folk-lorish warnings. So what do those numbers mean?

Plastic bottles didn’t gain much speed until the 1960s. Their popularity made manufacturers turn to different methods of construction. In 1988 the Society of Plastics Industry developed a Resin Identification Code to show consumers what type of plastic they were purchasing.

Each number obviously corosponds to a particular polimer. Rather than get into the specific chemical makeup of each substance, what does this mean to the consumer? How should we treat each type, and what should we avoid? Here is the lowdown.

The Good Ones
1 (This is what most water and coke bottles are made out of), 2, 4, 5

The Bad Ones
3, 6, 7

Really you want to avoid some because of the chemicals they can release into your water. Also, if your water smells or tastes funny after reusing a water bottle, then it is probably time to replace your bottle. Look at the bottom of the next bottle you drink out of and see what it says.