Daily Tip: Bottle Your Own Water
We’ve already listed five reasons not to buy bottled water, but when you’re refilling your own here’s a few things to keep in mind about the water and your bottle.
The water. Nearly all municipal water systems in the U.S. provide water that is safe to drink straight from the tap. You can filter your own water at home using a simple activated carbon filter that will get rid of any bad tastes or odors, and will remove chlorine and other chemicals that may be in the water. Brita and Pur offer these type of filtration systems in pitchers or faucet attachments. The Natural Resources Defense Council offers a comprehensive consumer guide on water filters. If you have questions regarding your water supply, contact your local water district or public health office.
Your bottle. There are a lot of reusable water bottles out there, many of which are plastic. However, not all plastics are created equal, and there is debate about the safety of plastics leaching into water. PET, what soda bottles (and water bottles) are made of, is food safe and is easily identified by the #1. HDPE, or #2 plastics are also relatively safe. Steer clear of polystyrene, #6, for water bottles, and always stay away from PVC or #3 plastics.
Nalgene makes a durable plastic water bottle
Whatever bottle you choose, make sure to keep it clean and avoid the build up of bacteria by washing your bottle often.
More information:
Grist - Bottle Racket: On Plastic Water Bottles
Grist - Nalgene Therapy: On Plastic Water Bottles, Again
Go Ask Alice - Is Reusing Water Bottles Safe?
NRDC - Consumer Guide on Water Filters
Green Options - Lighter Footstep: 5 Reasons Not to Drink Bottled Water
Green Options - Daily Tip: BYOB (Bottle, that is)
Green Options - School Bans Bottled Water…Where Do I Sign Up?
Got a tip for Jennifer and Amy? Send it to them!
Tags: Daily Tips, plastic, water+bottle
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September 7th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
What about in situations when you can’t plan ahead? I usually have my Nalgene bottle to hand but when I don’t I buy bottled water, but the media is slating that choice - throwing guilt on health conscious consumers. I am sure this is the case for many. There has to be some bottled waters that are kinder on the environment than others? I think I read something about an Icelandic bottled water that is very eco-friendly, is this true? All I ever see on the shelf is Disani and Aquafina, which are simply bottled tap waters - No Thanks!
January 8th, 2008 at 7:05 am
[...] to tap water, which is essentially the same thing you get when you buy most bottled water brands. (Filtration with a charcoal filter such as Brita or Pur is a common step taken to remove any chlorine aftertaste, though it I think it [...]
January 10th, 2008 at 2:47 am
[...] to tap water, which is essentially the same thing you get when you buy most bottled water brands. (Filtration with a charcoal filter such as Brita or Pur is a common step taken to remove any chlorine aftertaste, though it I think it [...]
February 7th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Here’s my take on bottling your own water.
The tap water in North America is for the most part very good. We have excellent infrastructures and the water is safe because it is chlorinated. The problem is though that many people don’t like the taste of chlorine in their water. In their minds they also frequently equate chlorine with other toxic chemicals.
If you held a blind taste test in any major N.A. City and served de-chlorinated tap water VS any brand of bottled water, it would be doubtful that very many people would be able to tell you which was which.
From this we can basically conclude that people drink bottled water because of the fact that it doesn’t contain chlorine and the fervent marketing efforts of the bottled water companies.
I say forget bottled water. Buy a nice stainless steel Klean Kanteen sport bottle (to avoid the Bisphenol A in polycarbonate bottles) and filter your tap water to remove the chlorine. Plan ahead and keep a jug in your fridge. If you don’t want to refill your sport bottle from the gas station bathroom when you are out and about you can always buy a refill of cold, safe, filtered tap water from an eco-friendly machine like the one from watervend.com
Every sport bottle of water you drink is one less water bottle made, hauled, recycled or discarded.
Don’t forget to run your sport bottle through the dishwasher once in a while.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
[...] note: We’re big fans of SIGG water bottles here at GO… I even bought them for the whole family for stocking [...]
July 10th, 2009 at 11:01 am
[...] and bring their own plastic water bottles within city limits. But they’ll encourage them to fill reusable bottles from the town’s public water [...]
July 28th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
[...] Buy a reusable water bottle. [...]