human
I've been hearing a lot of talk about how bad plastic water bottles are for the environment. Is this true?
assistant
It depends on your definition of “environment”.  Plastic water bottles can be recycled, and they have some environmental benefits in terms of reducing the amount of energy needed to produce them. However, there is also a lot of evidence that plastic water bottles contribute to pollution in the ocean and other habitats, which has negative impacts on the environment. So it’s complicated!