DAVIDSON COUNTY, N.C. — Around the world, one million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute.
Half of that plastic produce is designed to be used only once, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.
What You Need to Know
Jason Dibble began thinking about eliminating the use for single plastic after being deployed multiple times in Iraq and Afghanistan
Dibble was able to raise over a million dollars to officially launch his startup in Davidson last year
Boomerang Water is a bottling and delivery service that sanitizes, fills and caps pure, clean water into reusable glass and aluminum bottles
For Jason Dibble the plan to eliminate single-use plastic water bottles started out as an idea.
“We are all on this planet together,” he said. “We have to start thinking as a global community.”
Last year, Dibble officially launched his startup called Boomerang Water.
“Everybody’s talking about single-use plastic bottles,” he said. “How do we get rid of it, how do we keep a high-quality water? It’s with this type of system.”
Boomerang Water is a bottling and delivery service that sanitizes, fills and caps pure clean water into reusable glass and aluminum bottles.
“Four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan … and that’s really what inspired me to start looking at getting rid of single-use plastic bottles,” Dibble said.
Dibble spent four years in the Air Force, and it was during his time overseas he noticed just how much plastic bottled water was being shipped to soldiers.
“When you’re done drinking all of this water over there, you’re like where is it going,” he said. “Fortunately or unfortunately at that point, we had burn pits so we were burning it all.”
Once he retired, he began working with a close group of friends and raising over a million dollars to start his business.
Dibble’s team consists of people like Shaun Zaken, who work to share their mission and educate others about reducing their carbon footprint
“Traditionally when we throw something away in a recycling bin, it more often than not doesn’t get recycled,” Zaken said. “I think we’ve gotten complacent as a society where it just feels like I’ve done my part, I’ve thrown it in the blue bin, and that’s all we need to do, but the truth is that it doesn’t end there.”
Right now, Dibble is on a mission to replace a million plastic bottles of water a year in Davidson where his business is located.
And with plans to expand and go bigger, Dibble believes he’ll hit that goal and really works to make a difference.
Dibble’s machine is currently in a few hotels, a mining camp and other locations.
Those interested in learning more about Boomerang Water or finding out how this water can be delivered to you, can find more information here.