‘An empty stomach doesn’t like to study’, as the saying goes. This also applies to hydration: studies show that those who drink too little have a harder time thinking. This applies to students and pupils alike. Beverages in plastic bottles are a good choice. They are lightweight, unbreakable and after use, they are very easy to recycle.
How Water Helps with Thinking
The importance of drinks in school is often underestimated. Drinking enough not only promotes physical fitness but also enhances mental performance. Dehydration, even just 1 to 2 percent of body weight, can cause concentration issues and fatigue. This is detrimental to learning, which is why scientists advocate for proper hydration in schools. Ideally, this should be with water from plastic bottles, as they are lightweight and shatterproof. They are perfect for carrying in often already overloaded school bags and provide safe hydration during breaks.
Drinking from plastic bottles prevents accidents that can occur with glass bottles, especially during rough play in breaks. Additionally, plastic bottles are a sustainable choice: used plastic bottles can be very well recycled, even up to 100 percent in the bottle-to-bottle process, which is a key factor in the circular economy. This is important for schools that aim to promote topics such as ecological consumption, recycling, and regenerative economies.
Water as the drink of choice
Equally important is ensuring enough fluid intake, as scientific studies show. In the study “Drinking in Class,” the drinking habits of 270 fifth and sixth graders were examined. Nutrition scientist Prof. Dr. Petra Lührmann explains: “The results show that mental performance is linked to drinking habits and increases with the amount of water consumed. When students were well-hydrated with mineral water, they performed better on memory and concentration tasks and found them less strenuous.”
Even the time since the last drink makes a difference, according to Prof. Dr. Petra Lührmann: “The shorter the time since the last drink, the better the test results.” Not only that: “Significant advantages in performance tests were also found when the last fluid intake was no more than 30 minutes before the mental effort.” The nutritionist concludes: “Overall, regular availability of water – in the form of drinking water or mineral water – can improve students’ drinking habits and positively influence their mental performance.”
Water is also the preferred choice in schools, as statistics show. In 2022, 90 percent of children drank water as their primary beverage, according to a survey The popularity of water as a refreshment has been increasing in Germany for years. In 2023, the average German consumed 124.3 liters of mineral and medicinal water. Plastic bottles have proven to be the ideal packaging: they are portable and don’t break. As a result, single-use PET bottles accounted for about 60 percent of the sales of the mineral water industry in 2023.
PET Bottles as Currency and Brick Replacements
Water not only boosts mind and body, but the conscious and sustainable use of plastic is also becoming more prominent. “Plastic is fantastic” has even become a global maxim. What was once considered waste is increasingly becoming currency and building material in more countries. This is literally taking hold in schools, for example in Nigeria: The Morit International School in Lagos allows students to pay their tuition fees with used plastic bottles. The Akshar School in India has also introduced plastic as a payment method and uses the bottles, among other things, as bricks for their buildings.
This method is spreading internationally: UNICEF, for example, is building schools in Ivory Coast out of plastic bricks. Similarly, the German-South African joint project Ecobrick Exchange is constructing schools in South Africa using Ecobricks, which are filled PET bottles. For this effort, the organization has won several awards, including the SEED Award from the United Nations and the Climate Change Award in Cape Town. Ecobricks are now used not only in South Africa but also from South America to Southeast Asia, thanks to their good insulating properties.