Love at First Sip: The Journey of a Water Bottle
Water. One of the building blocks of life. Aaahhh, how I love thee. I love thee so much that I do not drink you when you are bottled in plastic. Now, thanks to some innovative minds, I can drink thee no matter where I am. Not only will you be delicious but you will also taste like a glass of fresh, cool, and delicious…well, you!
Now my journey to find the perfect water bottle has been a long and distracting one. Initially, I had not grown wise to the dangers of plastic water bottles, nor had I known about metals leaching. I was what you would call, naive in the department of ethical, ecological, and down right smart water bottle etiquette. But today I am happy to write to you all to tell you that I have met my match, and although it may not be perfect, it is the best match that I have found in this lifetime and I am not about to let it go. Yes, I am still talking about water bottles. Sometimes you have to know how many bad apples are out there before you can truly appreciate finding ‘the one’.
It all started with a Nalgene, a plastic, durable, easy to measure Nalgene. Then I read about the dangers of BPA leaching into not only baby bottles, but my own water bottle! I had bypassed disposable water bottles long ago since they provide horrific build-ups in landfills and the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch. And truly, who wants to deal with more waste (and plastic)? With tap water being plentiful in the United States, I am opting out of using resources to bottle and transport “portable” water bottles. Why not just wash one I like and plan on keeping (and that doesn’t contain harmful carcinogens)? It doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.
So I graduated from my camp-friendly Nalgene to the new and improved metal water bottle. It was free of BPA, durable, and although I couldn’t measure or see the liquid inside, I was sure that I had really made a better choice. Sip after sip I was reminded of my metallic choice and then a little something in the News happened. Metal = Bad. Uh-oh. Now not all metal is created equal, and thankfully I had chosen a safe option but here is the skinny on metal water bottles.
First, like I said before, they are not all bad so don’t throw yours out (recycle or reuse it is what you were really going to do anyway though) just yet. Now the first distinction is between stainless steel and aluminum. Aluminum is known to leach, so I suggest taking any aluminum cookware and water bottles out of your kitchen. Stainless steel on the other hand is the “good” metal. Yet some water bottle manufacturers were coating them with plastic, plastic that contained BPA. Sigg water bottles, once heralded as the most eco-friendly water bottles in the World was taken down by this fact. They had at first denied the claims, but then realized that BPA was in fact present in their water bottles.
So now what? Two options, first buy a stainless steel, non-plastic coated water bottle (Klean Kanteen has wonderful recycled bottles) or see what these ecological and health concerns have spurred in the realm of innovation. I chose the latter and am pleased to announce the happy union of me and my new, improved (and nearly perfect) water bottle. Please meet my glass water bottle, all 22 ounces of bottle.
Isn’t it beautiful?
Now I will let you in on our little secret…why I love this water bottle so much, and why you just may want to get your own.
First, there really is nothing like a cool glass of water. Honestly, every sip tastes like a fresh glass of water. Now I am not a picky customer when it comes to anything outside of ecological or social standards (then, you may have realized, I definitely am hard to please). So the fact that I noticed the difference in taste means that it must be significant.
Second, it is easy to clean. As much as I loved my stainless steel water bottle, the small mouth made it a bit tricky to really clean. This water bottle has a wide mouth, and since it is glass, nothing is lurking in the shadows.
Third, I have won back the option to measure my drink! Now for some of you this may not be a selling point, but for anyone who mixes things in their water bottle from lemonade to iodine to clean it, this can come in very handy. The large loop at the top provides an easy to grasp handle for anyone. It is made out of plastic #5, the only type of plastic that has undergone extensive testing (and passed) for having a benign effect on human health.
Lastly, the silicone (yes, I know, not perfectly sustainable) protective layer really does work. I can only say that after two months of extensive testing (read: dropping, throwing, stepping on, and accidentally kicking). Once it leaped, yes leaped, right off of my bicycle and was still just fine when I came back for it.
Now to address your concerns before making this (under $25) commitment. First, yes it is slightly heavier than a plastic or metal water bottle. Noticeable? Only a little bit. Honestly after the first two weeks, I didn’t even notice and I carried this water bottle everywhere. Next, like I stated before, I am yet to successfully break the bottle, despite my intentional and non-intentional efforts. Lastly, will you forget it? I got in the habit of putting it in my purse (yes this may be a little heavy for some people), and I haven’t forgotten it since. My stainless steel water bottle had a fifty-fifty chance of making it into my bag. Since this water actually tastes distinctly different it helps trigger my mind in the morning that, yes, I would in fact like to have a fresh drink of water throughout the day.
So if you think you may be equally compatible (it is hard to believe that anyone could possibly love this water bottle more than I) then visit Buygreen.com and pick out your dream color. Yes, it’s true. Even though this water bottle and I are truly meant to be together, I am going to share its ‘digits’ with you, so you too can find water bottle love.
They also sell Kleen Kanteen, for the stainless steel lovers out there, as well as glass baby bottles similar to my dear love, pictured above. So you can explore what bottle love may be for anyone.
Cheers!
Comments
This is such a timely post, Tiffany! Check out Nick Kristof’s Op-Ed in the NY Times on chemicals (including BPA) in our plastics that might turn out to be more harmful than we even think: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/opinion/06kristof.html
That looks like a very striking and attractive water bottle. Hope you have fun drinking from it. I must get one for myself.
Till then,
Jean
Thanks! Yes, we are very happy together. Soon we will be celebrating our three month anniversary
And yes, since plastics are not a natural compound, the way they are formed all the way to when they break down produce some very un-natural combinations that are severely understudied. I am happy to hear that there is more work being done in this area! Thanks so much for the link Alexandra!
And Jean, I hope you too find love with this water bottle, cheers!