PATH x CVS 7-Day Water Refill Challenge

Imagine if you could change the world with just one challenge. Most challenges lend themselves to changing your life, reading habits, glutes, or your spice tolerance, but few challenges actually help shift the planet in a better direction. PATH has teamed up with CVS to launch the 7-Day Refill Challenge, where you pledge to eliminate single-use plastic bottled water from your life and refill your PATH water bottle whenever you need hydration. This 7-Day Refill Challenge could help you change the world and the community around you. Good for your body, good for the planet. The challenge lasts 7 days and hopefully can make a lasting impact on those who participate.

CVS's purpose is to bring their heart to every moment of our health. PATH is helping CVS realize this purpose by offering shoppers a way to improve their health and help us all bring our hearts to the health of our planet. 

PATH is refillable bottled water packaged in a lightweight yet sturdy aluminum container that is easily recycled. The 7-Day Refill Challenge invites you to join the revolution and ditch single-use plastic bottled water. Here are the rules for the challenge, followed by the incredible impact you will be making on the planet and your health when you take the 7-Day Refill Challenge. 

7-Day PATH Challenge rules

• Don't buy, use, or accept single-use bottled water for 7 consecutive days - no cheating. If you cheat, you must start over on Day 1. 
• Bring your PATH bottle everywhere, or keep a bottle in key places (office, home, art studio, gym or school bag).
• Refillit™ many times throughout the day
• On each of the 7 days, challenge at least one person to join the challenge

But really, the 7-Day Refill Challenge only asks one thing of you - that you don't use any single-use bottled water for 7 consecutive days. Secondly, that you use your PATH bottle to kick the single-use plastic habit with every refill. 

What is the impact of the 7-Day PATH Challenge?

While it might seem like a small step, going single-use-free for even just 7 days can make an impact. 

Impact on your health

On day one of the challenge, you will want to determine how much water you should drink per your weight and level of activity. You can use the calculator below to determine how much water to drink daily and how many times you'll need to refill your PATH bottle to stay adequately hydrated.

Once you know how many cups of water are ideal for you to drink every day, you can divide that number by 3.125 cups - the capacity of your PATH bottle. So, for example, if your optimal water intake is 10 cups, you would divide 10 cups by 3.125 (the capacity of your 25 oz. PATH bottle) and get 3.2, meaning you would need to refill your bottle a little more than 3 times a day minimum to get the required amount of water for your body to stay hydrated.

Water intake levels are different for everybody based on body size and activity levels. For example, athletes performing intense physical activity commonly lose 6–10% of their body weight in sweat loss, quickly leading to dehydration when fluids are not replenished. So those with higher levels of activity need to refill more.

While the 7-Day Refill Challenge focuses on eliminating single-use plastic bottled water, it’s also an opportunity to drink more water and improve your overall health. Some of the benefits you can expect from getting adequate hydration to include the following:

• Better brain function
• Better moods
• Better memory
• Improved digestion
• Support immune system
• Flushes toxins
• Better breath

Learn more about the health benefits of refilling to stay hydrated

 

Impact on the planet

How many plastic water bottles will you eliminate in 7 days?

Health experts recommend drinking an average of about 3 liters or 13 cups of water per day per person, give or take, depending on personal factors (you can calculate your exact water needs with the calculator above). Based on the average, it would require the equivalent of 6.5 average single-use plastic bottles per day x 7 days = 45.4 single-use plastic bottles could be eliminated. For the entire challenge, that’s about 46 single-use plastic bottles rounded up. But what does that mean? How can we visualize the impact of just 46 plastic bottles? Let’s look at how the 7-Day Refill Challenge improves our individual carbon footprint.  

 

How much carbon emissions from single-use plastic bottled water?

Many calculations have been made to estimate the carbon associated with one single-use plastic bottle of water. A Michigan State Report estimates that number to be about 159gCO2e/single-use plastic bottle. 

 

The impact you can make with PATH for just 7 Days

With PATH, a sturdy, meant-to-be refilled, and recycled aluminum bottle, the estimated carbon footprint of a PATH bottle is about 396.99g CO2e/bottle, which means at refill #3 the magic happens. 

The average single-use plastic bottle uses - 2 cups of water

PATH bottle uses/refills - 3 cups (25 oz of water)

Refilling 4.3 times per day - saves 6.5 plastic bottles per day (1,033.5CO2e/day)

Refilling 4.3 times per day: 6.5 bottles/day x 7 days = saves 45.5 plastic bottles (round up to 46 plastic bottles [6,917 CO2e/7days])

 

1 Successful 7-Day Refill Challenge:

= 46 single-use plastic bottles saved

= 6,917 CO2 emissions saved (*equation below)

= Saving the equivalent emissions of driving 21 miles      

= Saving the equivalent emissions of streaming 132 hours of Netflix 

 

Impact on community

Solving our single-use waste issue has become an important goal for the world. It seems overwhelming when you think about reducing single-use plastic bottled water waste on an individual level. The 7-Day Refill Challenge is a start to spark a bigger shift - we need more people actively eliminating single-use plastic bottled water in their life. To help make the transition easier, PATH encourages you to join the 7-Day Refill Challenge. That means no more cases of single-use water and no more on-the-go single-use plastic bottles. Taking on this challenge in your community can spark a shift when you invite more people to the 7-Day challenge. You can challenge your family, friends, the company you work for, your school, co-workers, neighbors, and entire sports teams. 

 

Take the 7-Day PATH Challenge

You can pick up the PATH 7-Day Refill Challenge Bottle at your local CVS. PATH is the only bottled water with the power to save the planet, and together, we can challenge the world to do the right thing and #refillit™. When we introduce new habits to our lives, especially through a fun challenge, we influence the world around us to make better decisions.

 

References:

*(46x 159gCO2e/single-use - 396.99g CO2e from est carbon footprint of 1 PATH bottle)

CO2 emissions - http://css.umich.edu/sites/default/files/css_doc/CSS09-11.pdf

*(46/2.17 = 21Equivalant miles driven)

Driving miles/bottle of water (2.17 single-use bottles per mile equivalent CO2 emissions)