Think Outside the Bottle

Greystar apartment management team members across the country are taking the Think Outside the Bottle pledge. Thinking outside the bottle means not using single-use water bottles at work or at home to help save the environment. Since 2012, it’s been Greystar policy to stop buying and distributing bottled water in its apartment community leasing offices and its corporate offices. Greystar is now encouraging all associates, friends, relatives, residents and vendor partners to make the same pledge. 

Single-use bottles of water cost up to 10,000 times more than drinking from the tap. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are made of plastic that is produced using fossil fuels and transporting these bottles to warehouses, stores, homes and offices uses additional fuel. Approximately 80% of single-use bottles are not recycled, and it can take up to 1,000 years for the bottles to decompose in a landfill. 

Greystar apartment managers are setting an example by offering visitors filtered water instead of bottled water. During Greystar’s Sustainable September 2013, Huntington at King Farm gave away a reusable water bottle (with Greystar Redefining Green stickers promoting a recycling fact) to each resident submitting a green idea. Laura Eaton of Lakeshore Apartments in Austin, TX, encouraged all of her team members during Sustainable September to take the pledge and commit to spending a few weeks without using single-use water bottles at work and at home.

Future generations will appreciate your efforts to minimize the negative effects on our planet, and those around you may be inspired to do the same. Here are some tips to help you get started with recycling.