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20+ reusable water bottles with personality
"I have officially lost all of my reusable water bottles. I wanna buy something with personality -- glass, plastic, metal, whatevs -- I want it... Read more
This week I nerded up on a National Resources Defense Council report summarizing a four-year look at tap water as compared to bottled water. The gist of the report is, environmental concerns aside, bottled water is a load of hooey. Most consumers are better off drinking water from their tap — or filtered in their own home. Often bottled water is not from the pristine and abstract landscape on the bottle’s label — sometimes it’s from a well out back of the bottling plant. And sometimes? Gross junk leaches out of plastic bottles and into the water you’re drinking. And of course, we all know impacts of plastic bottles on the environment.
If you’re a bottled water (or plastic soda pop bottle drinking!) devotee, here are a few ways to reduce your impact.
Reuse the bottle
Check. Had to include that one. But educate yourself on whether the bottle is safe to reuse, first.
A Tap Water Bottle
Because OMG SO PRETTY. The Tap Water Bottle isn’t badly priced ($10-$18), and it’s a good fit for people who work at a desk. And OMG SO PRETTY!!!!!!!!1
Water filtration
For most people, water filtration is only a matter of taste — which totally matters, if the janky taste of your tap water is what keeps you from drinking it! I know I much prefer filtered water out the fridge door over the more-chloriney stuff from the tap.
The Filtrete Water Station intrigues me — you pour water in and it fills FOUR BOTTLES! But I don’t think it’s as life-changing as the commercial claims — “With four REUSEABLE bottles!” — in a way that implies we’ve never before had vessels from which we could drink.
Our household use to have a Brita Pitcher, which is good for filtering water AND for making cheap-ass vodka taste better.
Drink beer instead
Problem solved.
Now, these are just products to help you drink less bottled water — what habit changes have you implemented to keep you drinking the free stuff? My husband? He really likes mixables like Crystal Light. I’d love to hear how you make drinking water a habit.
So call me crazy – I’m a bottled water purchaser and I’m thinking of investing in a water purifier (where you buy the jugs instead) but the water from my tap tastes god awful. does anyone else have this problem?
Not at my house, but at my work. A brita filter makes the water taste soooo much better. You’ll never look back.
I grew up drinking well water, so now drinking city water, even if it’s filtered, makes me nauseous if I have too much. So, I’m kinda stuck with the bottled water now that I live in a place with no well water. What I do is refill bottles from the 2 1/2 gallon jugs, so I don’t waste so much plastic.
If I could afford it, I’d get a 5 gallon water cooler (a roommate bought one for our apartment in college). Each time you empty the jug, you bring it back and turn it in for a discount on your next bottle. That way the bottles get re-used, and you get tasty water!
My husband and I both have Vapur water bottles for trips when you don’t want to haul something heavy (they collapse almost completely when empty!). I usually have a metal bottle going at work or home. I like a bit of lime in my water or even a bit of lime cordial but mostly just water. But my dude drinks a ton of pop. We’re looking at a soda stream. A friend has one and she loves it. I’d rather my hubby drank water but he loves juice and pop so at least this way we could reduce the sugar and reduce the bottles we use. Although I’m still investigating it and I know it isn’t a perfect solution. I also like tea, including actual iced tea, which when there’s no caffeine is a nice way to flavour water without getting bad stuff.
I’ve been drinking janky water all my life, I guess. Whenever I move to a new town, the tap water grosses me out for awhile, but I get used to it.
I have to drink a lot of water – I tend to faint if I’m not well hydrated – so I carry a huge BPA-free Nalgene bottle of everywhere I go. I’m sure a Brita bottle would make things taste better, but I’m too lazy to deal with filters.
Beautiful Melbourne tap water all the way! Straight from the tap, not from the fridge (hurts ma teeth).
Where can I buy the bottles from, need some urgently?? Thanks