This Plastic Water Bottle Replacement Isn’t Any Greener

Posted on 2008 under Eco-Conscious | No Comment

5 Feb

When I was a kid, Mom was always telling us to drink more water. We had it with meals and ran into the house several times a day to get a drink from the faucet. We lived in the country, so our water came from a well. (It still does, because we live even farther out in the country now.) Well water has a definite taste, because it has minerals in it, I guess. I like it and can’t stand the flat or – worse yet – chlorine taste of city water.

Now, everyone from Oprah to the CDC is telling you that you need to drink more water, so it’s common to see full-grown adults hauling plastic water bottles around with them wherever they go. Staying hydrated is healthy, of course, but those plastic bottles aren’t the best way to do it, as many people are starting to point out.

The problem with plastic is that it doesn’t go away and it’s made from petroleum. Plastic bottles take a lot of energy to make and a lot of energy to get rid of. Recycling them isn’t the answer. And, of course, there’s another problem, at least for me: I don’t think plastic is good for the human body. It leaches phthalates, bisphenol-A and who knows what else and I don’t want them in my body, do you?

So, how many environmentally-conscious folks are bypassing plastic water bottles and carrying a reusable water bottle with filtered water like the ones sold by Brita and Nalgene, the two biggest promoters of this campaign? Plenty. However, I’m not one of them because their reusable bottles are also made of plastic and so are the filtered water containers they sell.

Nope. When I carry water with me, I use a stainless steel bottle with a stainless steel cap. It took me ages to track it down, because it seemed like every other stainless steel one I looked at had a plastic top. I didn’t get an aluminum one, and I made sure that the one I got was certified lead-free. It’s light. It’s easy to clean and it keeps my water cold for hours.

If you’d like to avoid plastics but like to sip water throughout the day, you have some choices. You can use water fountains, if you can find them. Large stores sometimes have them, as do supermarkets in this part of the Northeast. I don’t know about the rest of the country.

Or you can carry your own stainless steel bottle with your own tap water in it – filtered or not – your choice. For me, that’s the easiest, safest, greenest solution.

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