You all know I am all about hydration. I even made a cool little water calculator so you can compute how much water you should be drinking! Now, if you drink a lot of bottled water, I am urging your to take a minute and weigh your convenience against the environmental impact of all that plastic.
Most folks drink their bottled water on the go and there is no convenient way to recycle the plastic bottles. In 2003, about 40 million bottles a day went into the trash, or even more unfortunately became litter. These billions of bottles take up valuable landfill space, leak toxic additives into the groundwater and take a whopping 1,000 years to biodegrade, if ever.
The high price of bottled water is not the water but, in actuality, the cost of the bottling, packaging, shipping, marketing, retailing and transporting it all over the globe. When calculating your carbon footprint, you might want to consider the carbon footprint of the bottled water you drink. Next time you pick up a bottle of Fiji Water, think about the distance the bottle and the water have traveled before it hits your lips.
It is true that tap water is more regulated than bottled water, so you should drink from the tap. Want to read about some alternatives to drinking plastic bottled water? then read more
- Filter your tap water with a Brita Water Filter, especially if lead and mercury are your major concerns.
- Pour your filtered tap water into a metal SIGG bottle. They are lightweight, durable and dishwasher safe. I love mine!!!
- Buy Biota bottled water. The bottle is made from 100% corn (a renewable resources) and it decomposes in a commercial composting situation in 70 - 80 days. It will take longer to break down in a home composting pile, but it breaks down!!!
- If you do happen to buy a plastic bottle, just remember to recycle it!!!
Temperley London
JC de CASTELBAJAC
Beach Time
Thanks for posting this. I'm thrilled you are advocating SIGG bottles, which are eco-friendly. I think it's also worth mentioning that plastic water bottles are also bad for your own health, in addition to the environment. All plastics leach chemicals into your water, including the tough #7 plastics (like Nalgene bottles). I recently switched from nalgene to Sigg as well.
1Good to know! I drink over 80oz of water a day, and carry around my Nalgene everywhere. It makes great conversation material with co-workers and in meetings - they suspect it contains vodka
Fit, the tap water regulation link is broken.
2I have tried buying water bottles that you can reuse and they always end up stinky and make the water taste nasty. I always recycle my water bottles though, always!! I am a recycling freak hahaha
3I always recycle too, but recently have felt unsure about drinking from plastic. I bought a pur water filter that you attach to your sink and I love it!
4I drink flat water from the tap, but I love my bubble water...which is in plastic. ANy ideas?
5Rookie, do you have a link to scientific proof about Nalgene plastics leaking chemicals into water? I have to admit that I doubt this, so I would love to see some actual facts. I question it because I work in a laboratory and most of our plasticware is by Nalgene, and in a sterile biomedical laboratory, why would we be storing human fluids and products in plastic containers that leak chemicals and thereby change the nature of what is stored inside?
6I just got a SIGG! No way! I always reuse my bottles at least 4 times and then recycle them. I hate seeing all of the waste on the side of the road and in trash cans that could easily be put in recycling bins.
7I love Brita water.
8I have been thinking about this alot lately so I'm glad I saw this! I will have to check out the SIGG bottles...they sound great!
9I'm loving that polka dot bottle, perfect!
10THANK YOU! bottled water is evil--all that shipping and manufacturing cost, when there is perfectly adequate water sent through existing infrastructure to your house/work/gym/etc. but, don't reuse the disposable bottles too many times--they aren't made for the dishwasher. instead, buy a durable reuseable bottle. also, buying a thermos instead of using thos paper cups for your morning coffee can save a whole lot of waste.
11Can't wait to check out the SIGG bottle!
12Thanks for featuring both BIOTA water and metal water bottles! I use a Klean Kanteen -- http://store.greenfeet.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=8502%2D06560%2D0000 -- that is all metal and doesn't leach chemicals into the water.
13I love my SIGG bottle! I take it with me *everywhere* I go! The one in the picture is really cute! Maybe I should buy another one...
14Great post!
It's great to see someone else looking to do a little to stop the millions of plastic bottles that are thrown away.
I've been using Nalgene bottles for several years now, but I am really excited to try a Sigg bottle. I just have to find one first (or order one). Not only are they not plastic, but heck, they're way cuter.
15i recycle and i just found out that plastic water bottles are very difficult to recycle (thanks to regis and kelly's green week!).
my concern with the sigg is--is it easy to clean with that narrow opening? i like the nalgenes with the wide opening at the top because they are easy to reach into an clean!
16You are speaking the truth. Too little attention is paid for the enormous amount of plastic bottles around. I will consider it too.
17i like the idea of recycling my waterbottles - i've got a 1.5L bottle which i fill every morning and top up at lunch time at work. the only problem is i live in a town (in the middle of nowhere) where it's not safe to drink the water (giardia and krytosperidium and not water treatment plant - just a guy from the council who throws the occasional truck load of chlorine in the water storage tanks!) so i still have to get my water out of a big plastic water canister bought from the shop
so that's landfill, but atleast i recycle my drink bottle...
18julieulie, here's a reasonable article about BPA contamination from the University of Cincinnati.
19http://healthnews.uc.edu/news/?/758/
20WOW
21i'm drinking out of my nalgene now! and all i want to do is go out and buy a SIGG...hmmm i would've never thought, thanks!!!
i also have a brita purifier and i make sure to fill my bottle up every night so i have a full one in my bag for the beginning of my day!
however,i do drink like 3 a day here,... so i refill it at the office from thier supposed *filter* ,better than nothing though
I just saw this article linked to my blog. I guess I'm a little behind! There is a website link on my blog that was really interesting. http://www.reusablebags.com/news.php?id=18 I'm glad that Sugar exists to get the word out on so many things that make us informed consumers!
22SO excited - I just ordered my SIGG bottle today! It's pretty....I got the cleaning tablets and cleaning brush, too, so that I can keep it in perfect shape. You can take a look at it here: http://www.mysigg.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=295
I hope it comes by the end of June - that way I can take it on my trip to Austria. Yay!
23Thanks for posting this Fit! I think it's great that everyone is starting to switch their soda for water and juices, BUT I just think of all the plastic bottles! I usually buy a giant plastic bottle of water, and then reuse it a dozen times before recycling, but I like these ideas even better.
24I'm totally against soft plastic bottles. I have a bottle from LuLulemmon and one supplied by my college, but I'm starting to hear all this about #7 BPA? I'm not too sure about it, but they both have the symbol on them... did I waste money on the one I just bought? Should I invest in a SIGG?
25iffermay, i do have a suggestion. Try switching to seltzer water that you buy in big plastic containers and then carry around a stainless steel water bottle and refill from the tap later on or something. even drinking one less glass per day makes a difference to the planet.
26any one who's still reading this post.... think of the money you will save too! if you spend $1 a day for an entire year on a bottle of water, you're spending 365 dollars. but investing in a safe bottle like a Sigg, Nalgene (safe now!) or a Klean Kanteen, you'll save about 340 dollars a year!!! And help save the planet too!! Totally worth it in my opinion! I have a Sigg bottle that says "Make Love not Landfill"
27it's a conversation starter in itself, I've even been called a "hippie recycler" but hey, maybe i am!!
Very nice site!
28well ppls bottled water is bad for the enviroment that is y i do not drink bottled water any more it lets out carbon dioxide so change ur choices
29wow i did not know plastic did that much bad .....
30also im doing a essay and most of my class is with plastic bags but man do they want there health or enviroment bad
It's not plastic bottles that are bad, we are just not reusing them correctly, you can say the same thing about cars. People need to purchase cars with electrics motors if they absolutely must use one but use bicycles or trains if at all possible. There are plastic bottles that can last months or years if people use them correctly. Grade 1 plastic is safe as well. Plastic bottles are made from oil but it also takes oil to create SIGG bottles. I respect the person who uses one safe plastic bottle for 6 months more than the person who buys two SIGG bottles in that amount of time, not to mention they are not manufactured in the United States, how do you think they get to the U.S.?
31nice one! I like the reusable bottles a lot. I use a water filter at home and combined with the water bottle I always have good filtered water at hand.
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