… and if it’s being shipped off to other places and people are drinking it, then… that’s a good thing, right? As long as it’s not being wasted. I’m a lot more concerned about people (like my kids) who take three sips from a water bottle and then throw the whole thing in the trash. Now fresh water has been completely removed from the ecosystem, at least until the plastic decomposes in ten million years.

Your trash collectors will probably crush the whole thing, so the water will seep out. Polluted, yes, but not locked away for that long. (And even if not, I'd give it a very short time until the water seeps out from micro-fractures anyway.)