Agreed! Worldwide we need to support building clean water/sewer systems so that the majority of people don't need to buy/transport water. Of course, there will always be people who will not live where those systems are. So the industry also needs to support exchange programs for bottles (as another commenter said they do in Mexico) as well as inventing plastics that are more durable and safe so they can be reused for a longer period of time. Of course, actually recycling them would also help.

I don't think we will ever be able to entirely get away from plastic (without a complete downfall of society, which I don't advocate for). As you stated, plastic makes a huge difference for fuel usage as compared to metal or glass when it comes to transportation. And there are so many other reasons it it is here to stay, and should be. But if that is true, we need better systems to manage it and keep it from simply being trash.

Thank you so much for your insightful response.