LifeCycle-WAter Bottles
TimeLine
Material Extraction- Most plastic bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which requires oil to create. Bottle d water companies get water from all over the world so they can create the bottles, which requires a lot of energy both when extracting the oil and transporting it. Once the oil is transported it is refined and turned into plastic pellets which will be melted into pre forms. The pre forms are then shipped to the factory to be produced into actual bottles.
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Manufacturing- Once the pre forms arrive at the factory they are turned into actual bottles. The pre forms are heated and formed in a mold to create the shape of the water bottle. The bottles are then sent to the bottling plant where they are bottled with water. They are then sent to the distributor to be sold to consumers like you and me.
Distribution- The bottles are then sent to stores all around the nation to be sold. Once the bottles arrive at the distributor they are put on shelves for us, the consumer, to purchase. We then take the bottles home to use throughout our daily lives.
Usage- After we purchase the water bottles we use them to keep us hydrated during the day and for whatever other use we find for them. If we buy the package of disposable water bottles then once we are done we either throw them away or recycle them. If its a reusable water bottle we keep using it until we can no longer use it and eventually throw that away too or recycle it.
End of Life- After we dispose of the bottles they are sent to a dump or landfill where they sit and decompose, although the bottle wont completely decompose for 450 years. Because of this most bottles when they are thrown away or recycled are turned into another product for consumers to use. They are melted down into plastic and get combined with other plastics and molded into a new product for consumers to purchase and enjoy until that product reaches the end of its life cycle and is recycled or thrown away. The cycle keeps going and going so the water bottle never just sits around in a landfill polluting the environment.
Distribution- The bottles are then sent to stores all around the nation to be sold. Once the bottles arrive at the distributor they are put on shelves for us, the consumer, to purchase. We then take the bottles home to use throughout our daily lives.
Usage- After we purchase the water bottles we use them to keep us hydrated during the day and for whatever other use we find for them. If we buy the package of disposable water bottles then once we are done we either throw them away or recycle them. If its a reusable water bottle we keep using it until we can no longer use it and eventually throw that away too or recycle it.
End of Life- After we dispose of the bottles they are sent to a dump or landfill where they sit and decompose, although the bottle wont completely decompose for 450 years. Because of this most bottles when they are thrown away or recycled are turned into another product for consumers to use. They are melted down into plastic and get combined with other plastics and molded into a new product for consumers to purchase and enjoy until that product reaches the end of its life cycle and is recycled or thrown away. The cycle keeps going and going so the water bottle never just sits around in a landfill polluting the environment.
Conclusion Questions
a. What is meant by product lifecycle?
A products lifecycle is what the product goes through from being produced to being thrown away.
b. Why is it important for companies who make products to research and determine a product’s potential lifecycle?
To see if the product could be extremely hazardous to the environment
c. What would you change about your product? Why?
I would change the water bottle to try and make the product be able to decompose faster by making the product out of more natural materials.
d. Do you think your product will evolve or become obsolete over time? Why?
I believe the water bottle will not become obsolete and people will keep using them and using them or remaking them into different products.
e. What is a trade-off?
Drinking from the tap of our sinks so there wouldn't be as much pollution from plastic bottles
f. Do you think that trade-offs were made during the design phase of your product?
No I do not because then people wouldn't have purchased the bottles and would've just drank from the tap of their sinks.
g. Why is it important to recycle?
Recycling is important so that the environment doesn't get too polluted and the Earth can still be livable.
h. How do product designers play a role in recycling?
The product designers play a role in recycling by coming up with ways that their product could be created/recycled without it being harmful to the environment.
i. What role does society play in the recycling effort?
Society plays a major role in recycling because we are what can control recycling and the environment. If we don't recycle or dispose of our waste properly then it affects the environment which affects the Earth.
j. What can you do to help?
We as engineers could come up with different products that can be decompose faster and also we as a nation can just dispose of our trash in a better way so the Earth doesn't become all polluted.
A products lifecycle is what the product goes through from being produced to being thrown away.
b. Why is it important for companies who make products to research and determine a product’s potential lifecycle?
To see if the product could be extremely hazardous to the environment
c. What would you change about your product? Why?
I would change the water bottle to try and make the product be able to decompose faster by making the product out of more natural materials.
d. Do you think your product will evolve or become obsolete over time? Why?
I believe the water bottle will not become obsolete and people will keep using them and using them or remaking them into different products.
e. What is a trade-off?
Drinking from the tap of our sinks so there wouldn't be as much pollution from plastic bottles
f. Do you think that trade-offs were made during the design phase of your product?
No I do not because then people wouldn't have purchased the bottles and would've just drank from the tap of their sinks.
g. Why is it important to recycle?
Recycling is important so that the environment doesn't get too polluted and the Earth can still be livable.
h. How do product designers play a role in recycling?
The product designers play a role in recycling by coming up with ways that their product could be created/recycled without it being harmful to the environment.
i. What role does society play in the recycling effort?
Society plays a major role in recycling because we are what can control recycling and the environment. If we don't recycle or dispose of our waste properly then it affects the environment which affects the Earth.
j. What can you do to help?
We as engineers could come up with different products that can be decompose faster and also we as a nation can just dispose of our trash in a better way so the Earth doesn't become all polluted.