water bottles to go

A friend asked me about water bottles today and having discovered a couple of great products over the last couple of weeks, I thought I'd post about it. 

The Reasons

Firstly, the reasons to choose tap water over bottled mineral:

• Bottled water has to be transported to stores across the country from source, resulting in thousands of water miles and an accompanying increase in fossil fuel consumption.

• 2.7 million tonnes of plastic are required to produce the world's water bottles every year.

• Dumping a plastic water bottle in landfill is no solution, they take around 1000 years to biodegrade.

What's the alternative?

The Tap water bottle comes in two sizes - 'executive' 400ml or 'biggie' 1 litre bottle. Using one of these helps to save 1000s of bottles of water over its lifetime offering clear financial and environmental savings. It is made from Tritan plastic, which is guaranteed free from Bisphenol A, found in many other plastic bottles and linked to increased risk of cancer and early onset puberty. The base and top are made from stainless steel.

A non-plastic option

For longevity I have chosen the Kleen Kanteen range for our family made from durable, toxin free, non-leaching, recyclable, stainless steel. These products are made in China although the US based company assures it customers that the factory is audited four times a year to ensure respect for workers' wellbeing and the environment. I guess the product that I have from Eco St is then shipped to the UK, adding up to make a pretty hefty round the world trip for a little metal bottle. I need to crunch some figures to find out whether this is still an environmentally sound decision, but I am confident of its health benefits. Little Acorns to Mighty Oaks also have a baby's and children's version of these stainless steel bottles.

And lastly, best of all has to be this idea from No Impact Man - a glass jar - cup and water bottle rolled into one!