http://www.care2.com/greenliving/easy-greening-water-bottles.html
Easy Greening: Water Bottles
By Melissa Breyer, Producer, Care2 Green Living
It is estimated that Americans will drink more than 30 billion single-serving bottles of water this year. Since these bottles are non-returnable, two million tons worth of that everlasting plastic will end up in landfills–and roads, and beaches, and streams. Refilling used plastic water bottles offers a number of safety risks; so just how are we supposed to responsibly quench our thirst on the go?
Plastic water bottles are non-returnable and since they are generally used away from the home they rarely see the inside of a recycling bin. Most water bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and have a lower recycling rate than any other common packaging materials, according to a report by the Container Recycling Institute (CRI). The quick solution many have adopted is simply refilling plastic water bottles from the tap—but alas, these bottles are not made or regulated for reuse and quite possibly don’t have the physical characteristics required to be safely reused.
Along with the possibility of bacterial contamination is the risk that PET is likely to leach some ugly little phthalates (known hormone disrupters) into your water. Harder polycarbonate (PET 7) bottles, like those used by hikers, can leach a known endocrine disruptive chemical, bisphenol-A (BPA), according to research published by the journal Current Biology.
Solution: Get yourself a nifty eco-friendly, safe, reusable water bottle. Look for one made from aluminum or stainless steel, inert materials that have 0.0 percent leaching. Fill it up with filtered water from your tap, and you’re good to go. Is it as convenient as buying a frosty plastic bottle of water when your thirst summons? No. But will it save you money, protect your health from leaching toxins, and make the planet a better place? Yes! So go ahead, quench in peace…
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82 comments
add your comment »We re-use plastic water bottles by filling them half way with water, sticking them into the freezer and then filling them the rest of the way with filtered water from an RO. We know that this is not the best thing to do. We are shopping for stainless steel bottles now. They are difficult to hold onto and you sure can't put ice in them. We love our water ice cold! Any suggestions?
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Mine has Hello Kitty on it :D
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We drink water out of the bottle here as the the tap water in NM has arsenic, black mold & who knows what else in it. We recycle our water bottles weekly at our recycle center.
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how about drinking from the tap instead of buying water
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I bought a stainless steel bottle a year ago & i'm so happy I did , Thank you so much for this post :)
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good idea any one remember corona pop bottles where they gave us 5 old pence on all empty bottles another good idea for bottlel makes to do
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Soda, water, juice, you name it, it tastes somehow better coming out of a glass bottle. Aluminum does something to it, and it probably isn't safe, either.
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Glass is one of the least reactive/most inert substances you can use.
Its drawbacks are that it is heavy to lug around, and of course, it's breakable.
Otherwise, I much prefer the taste of water or any other drink from a glass container.
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I have a water crock--not an electric one--that I use. I refill the five gallon water jugs at the local supermarket, & each member of the family has his/her own stainless steel reusable bottle. It can be cumbersome to lug them around all the time because we all workout away from home and need to stay hydrated. However, plastic, disposable bottles are terribly convenient, but it is so much better for the environment & personal health to resuse a container that you can sterilize.
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Amylia - as long as you're recycling the bottles, whether small or large, the large bottles are somewhat more energy efficient. I'm not sure what you are asking is safe? But lately I've preferred water from our Brita filter to the gallons of bottled water we've bought for years.
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