FitSugar

Sundance Goes Green With Reusable Water Bottles

FitSugar — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:04:55 PST

Though most of us aren't lucky enough to attend the Sundance Film Festival, we've probably all been to events that hand out hundreds and hundreds of plastic water bottles. Last year, Sundance alone gave out 50,000 single-serve bottles, most of which just end up in landfills.

So for the 2009 festival, which kicks off this Thursday, Sundance is partnering with an organization called FilterForGood, which is devoted to reducing bottled-water waste. Instead of wasteful one-off containers, festivalgoers will get free reusable water bottles provided by Nalgene, which they can then refill at Brita-sponsored water stations.

I've had a reusable water bottle for a while now, but if you haven't gotten one yet, you can visit FilterForGood's site and make a pledge to switch. The site also sells FilterForGood-branded bottles that let you support the cause. Don't worry: They're BPA free!

Plastic Water Bottles: Really Bad for the Environment

FitSugar — Tue, 15 May 2007 11:00:00 PDT

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.

Clean H20 With Eye-Catching Water Filters

Heather Dale — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:05:02 PDT

Embracing Spring by adding some fresh fun colors into your everyday routine doesn't only apply to your workout wear, you can also extend it to your kitchen accessories! I just upgraded my standard white water filter to a bright royal blue pitcher, and I love the change - a little color goes a long way! Here are some stylish, high-rated water filters worth paying attention to.

Culligan Level 3 Faucet Filter ($18): Want to keep your water free from lead and chlorine, but find water filter pitchers a nuisance? This sleek, white tap filter from Culligan has a filter life of 200 gallons; improves odor and taste; and reduces lead, chlorine taste and odor, cryptosporidium, and giardia cysts.

Check out the rest of the list!

Win the Brand-New Reusable Brita Bottle and a Brita FilterForGood Trek Bike!

Sponsor — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 03:00:00 PDT

Living an active, healthy, and sporty lifestyle requires some serious hydration, and the new Brita Bottle is the perfect reusable way to drink up while respecting Mother Earth. This BPA-free bottle comes in two vibrant colors and filters tap water, leaving you with great-tasting, refreshing water while you're on the go.

Because we're so excited about reducing water bottle waste, we're giving away five Brita Bottles and five Brita FilterForGood Trek bikes with Bontrager helmets to help you work up a thirst! To enter for your chance to win, simply leave a comment below telling us where you'd like to take the new Brita Bottle. Don't forget to log in and read our rules here. Good luck!

After entering this contest, be sure to check out the Brita FilterForGood Facebook page and follow @FilterForGood on Twitter for promotions, news, and tips on going green. Enjoy!

How to Know If Your Tap Water Needs Filtering

Heather Dale — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:21:31 PDT

In an effort to keep my carbon footprint in check, I keep reusable bottles and fill 'em up with tap water. Since tap water is more regulated than bottled water, I tend to not worry about contaminants. Although lately, my tap water has tasted and smelled a bit off, making me wonder: should I start using my Brita again, or is it time to invest in a more sophisticated filter? I am a fan of easy hydration, so I decided it was time to learn a bit more about the water coming out of my kitchen faucet.

Here's how to know if it's time to start filtering your tap water.

9 Things You Need to Stop Paying For

Emily Co — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 03:05:54 PDT

We live in a consumer nation, where it has long been the case that many of us are encouraged to spend and to pay it off with money we don't have, which then racks up our debt. This mentality has shifted little during the recession; people are gradually spending less and saving more. However, there are still a lot of things we're paying for that we don't need. Here are nine things you should be getting for free:

Books: Don't buy books. Instead, borrow them from the library or from a friend, and explore sites that will let you swap books with other people such as BookMooch, PaperBackSwap and GoodReads has a section dedicated to swapping. Alternatively, there are plenty of wonderful free ebooks on Amazon if you're game enough to try an indie author.
Cable: A record number of Americans are canceling their cable services, reports the AP. Paying for cable almost seems pointless when you look at all the free options out there such as Hulu and network websites that offer free streaming of their hit shows online.
Credit report and score: Get your free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com, which allots you a free report per year. If you're looking to get a free credit score (you can't get it through AnnualCreditReport.com), head on down to Credit Karma, a free service that tracks your score for you.
Shipping: Hunt around the web for free shipping when you're shopping online. Go to freeshipping.org and find promo codes for free shipping on the website; you can even subscribe to get free shipping alerts from the site. Be sure to also check out retailmenot.com for free shipping codes.

Read on for more items we shouldn't pay for.