Easy Greening: Water Bottles

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…

Sigg Swiss Engineered Water Bottles

Klean Kanteen

By Melissa Breyer, Producer, Care2 Green Living

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Michele W.

9:13AM PDT on Mar 22, 2012

Thank you

send a green star

Patricia H.

1:33AM PDT on Mar 21, 2012

Thanks for sharing

John D.

9:31PM PDT on May 18, 2011

I bought my water bottle a couple of years ago at Whole Foods Market. It is a high quality bottle, but I paid a high price for it. I now give Kleen Kanteen water bottles as gifts to my co-workers (especially when I see the drinking H2O from a plastic bottle. Best price I've see on Kleen Kanteen bottles is at Walgreen's (3.99 to 4.99, depending on the size).

Charles W.

5:57PM PDT on Nov 1, 2010

If it's too cold out, your lips would freeze to it LOL!

ana p.

10:49AM PDT on Oct 28, 2010

Maryjane Booth, you can buy a thermal bottle -the kind that keeps the hot or the cold!

Past Member .

9:21AM PDT on May 7, 2010

HEMP as plastic GOOGLE HEMP, GO TO WIKIPIDIA
The basic building block of plastics is cellulose taken from petroleum, but toxic petrochemical compositions are not the only way to derive plastics. Plastics can be derived from plant cellulose, and since hemp is the greatest cellulose producer on Earth (hemp hurds can be 85% cellA recent technological advance with biodegradable plastics made from cornstarch has led to a new material based on hemp. Hemp Plastics (Australia) have sourced partners who have been able to produce a new 100% biodegradable material made entirely from hemp and corn. This new material has unique strength and technical qualities which have yet to be seen before, and this new material can be injection or blow-molded into virtually any shape using existing moulds, including cosmetic containers, Frisbee golf discs, etc.ulose), it only makes sense to make other organics, instead of letting our dumps fill up with refuse.
The possibilities are endless with hemp plastics and resins, and bio-composites. Virtually any shape and purpose can be fulfilled by bio-composite plastics. Hemp plastics are already on the rise, it is only a matter of time before we will see the need to grow hemp in the United States to meet our demands.

Maryjane B.

10:06AM PDT on Sep 7, 2009

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?

Mallory B.

8:32AM PST on Feb 16, 2009

Mine has Hello Kitty on it :D

6:51PM PST on Feb 14, 2009

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.

dve d.

1:05AM PST on Feb 9, 2009

how about drinking from the tap instead of buying water