Friday, November 20, 2009

Decrease Stagnation; Glass water bottles rock!

My friend H. came across this awesome company this week and I thought I'd share it with everyone here! We all know that plastic bottled water is a terrible concept, both ethically and environmentally. Clean water should not be a commodity to be bought and sold, nor should our local water sources be controlled by huge corporations bent on sucking it up and selling it.

We know that the plastic leaches chemicals into the water and as a result into our bodies. No matter how much we recycle, each bottle is made from virgin plastic which means more petrochemicals. Recycling plastic also downgrades the plastic, making it less viable for reuse each cycle. For more information on plastic recycling, please visit Beth's Fake Plastic Fish.

What is an eco-yogi/ni to do? Obviously a reusable water bottle is the ticket. Since nalgene is plastic (and all plastic actually leaches BPA) stainless steel or aluminum it was. However, aluminum requires a coating, which SIGG has recently demonstrated could contain BPA or other chemicals. Klean Kanteen was our choice and we adore our stainless steel water bottles. (image from here)

However, stainless steel is quite energy intensive and not always great for the environment. All stainless steel bottles are manufactured in China which is not ideal, what with carbon from shipping and manufacturing. Although Klean Kanteen seems quite transparent on their website, I would prefer less mileage on my bottle... Also, just the process of mining steel is quite damaging to the environment, along with the actual manufacturing the steel into bottle shape (please read here for more details). Although the end result of amount of plastic bottles saved by using the stainless steel bottle a few hundred times balances the scales, I have wondered if there was a more gentle approach.

Enter glass. Glass is a fantastic product, easy to produce and extremely versatile in recycling with virtually no downgrading of the product. I've seen glass water bottles at Chapters, but they seem so fragile and thin... not exactly something I'd want to actually carry around. I am a hand talker and pretty darn clumsy... might be a messy situation.

Tap Water Bottles , on the other hand, look pretty fantastic! They appear to be made from thicker glass and have a more practical bottle shape. I also love the nifty, attached stopper which is perfect for a missed-placed type gal like myself. It would seem that they are made in Canada as their retailers are all in Toronto and they were created by a Canadian... but I'm not entirely sure as their website doesn't say. They would make a pretty snazzy holiday eco-gift though :) (image from here)

My favourite quote from their site:

"Tap water is constantly moving, staying fresh and never stagnating."

I do believe that if you're a periodic, or gentle water drinker (i.e. you like to bring water with you to work, the park or to the library) than a glass water bottle would be much less environmentally damaging than a stainless steel water bottle. I much prefer glass it requires much less energy and chemicals and hasn't scoured our Earth in mining. However, if you bring your water hiking, bicycling or are extremely clumsy and might drop the bottle... and you know you'd save hundreds of plastic bottles, a stainless steel might be best.

Thank you very much for the link H.!! :)

Happy Weekend and many Blessings!

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

13 comments:

  1. Great post, Lisa.

    Down here in the states, bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, while tap water is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, which actually has stricter regulations. Thus, even without the environmental impact of all those plastic bottles, bottled water would be the biggest scam in history (or one of them, at least).

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  2. I was so upset when I read about SIGG as I love my brightly coloured SIGG. It's just so hard to get KK here espcially if you consider that it goes from China to the US then the UK!

    I continue to use the SIGG because I have it now and hate chucking stuff out, but once again thanks for the inspiration to look into glass bottles (but not for running)!

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  3. i had a friend in grad school who bought and re-used her own glass bottle from VOSS water. they're available at pete's frootique, and are quite large glass bottles, perfect for carrying lots of water with you. http://www.vosswater.com/

    and, before his stainless steel bottle and our camping/hiking excursions, chris used to use an old Grolsch beer bottle with the attached cap.

    i've also seen people reuse their large and small perrier bottles, since they have a screw-on cap. and when i worked at the cafe, i saw a few mason jars doubling as latte mugs.

    glass water bottles do rock. and these bottles are pretty fancy looking. but i think we don't really need to invest in a $12 glass bottle when we're surrounded by reusable options from our daily lives.

    just a thought...

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  4. Dr. Jay: most biggest scam ever. that is for sure.

    Rachel: ya- that is pretty annoying- especially since SIGG is made in Switzerland right?

    Jen: yep true. Mason jars just aren't that conveniently portable or shaped to carry in one hand and I wouldn't know where to get a beer bottle with the nice nifty stopper.

    but it's great that you guys were able :)

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  5. I'm glad you posted on this - I am trying as hard as possible to buy things that are either glass first, or, if not possible, then metal. Plastic LAST, if at all!

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  6. Those are nice looking bottles and I think that there is a strong trend in this area. But it is my viewpoint that true biodegradable bottles will be a big trend soon too.

    Best regards,
    Tom Bailey

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  7. In college I noticed some of the students using good old fashion mason jars to carry their tea in. I always thought that was a great idea.

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  8. Great post! I love the idea of the glass bottles. Now...I have 4 boys, ages 6 and under - so glass is not always the safest option.

    I found some pretty cool bottles that help at least raise the awareness of the BPA in most plastic bottles. It is in my name (Poison Bottle Co) - they provide stainless steel bottles. I just ordered a couple for my wife and I last week. Loving them!

    But what is really cool is that the poison label on the bottle makes people ask questions and it lets me talk about the dangers of plastic bottles, lined bottles (sigg), and whatnot. Now, I can add the idea of using glass bottles too.

    Thanks for the share!

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  9. Great article on why GLASS is best--better for you AND better for the environment!

    My friend and I have a small company here in Seattle and we sell glass water bottles. Check us out at: www.betrulyyou.com You'll also find more information about why glass is the best choice in water bottles.

    Thanks for spreading the news!
    Heather

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  10. i like using glass bottles but sometimes i get too lazy to clean it and then forget to use it. must cut that out.

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  11. Hey there...all you yoginis will LOVE the bottles at www.symblueology.com These are sandblasted, blue glass water bottles with flip-top lids. They have beautiful symbols and words to energize the water, like LOVE, Peace, Gratitude, OM, Blessings, and Optimum Vitality. They are super thick and durable. I got mine online...and they are going to be soon available at a lot of great health food stores. Check them out! I LOVE my symblueology bottle!

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  12. Another choice is www.ryfbottle.com. They carry strong, high-quality glass bottles from Italy with waterproof insulated totes.

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  13. Wow, who knew you could start carrying around glass water bottles like any regular sports bottle or jug? That’s really cool and you’re right – that glass bottle is going to be much more helpful to the environment. Also, that swingtop stopper is really snazzy. It’s an age-old design, and it’s great to see it making a comeback in the bottling world.

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