water issues…
So, last year at this time I quit buying water bottles. Stopped cold turkey. Sometimes, before then if we were going to go to the park for the day, we would get 4 plastic bottles of water and take them with us. Every day. If my husband was with us it would be 5. If the water wasn’t all gone, it would take about an hour in the sun in the car and the water would be undrinkable. When I think of all that waste it gives my spine a tingle. But, the good news is I stopped. First I bought a sigg bottle or two and we shared. but I kept losing it and forgetting it places and it was just a huge pain in the rear. So, I’m here to say, don’t think you need to buy anything to stop using plastic water bottles. Just clean out that old jar. I have a shelf now with 12+ jars, there’s always a clean one ready to be filled. Here’s the practical tidbits…
1. I have a cooler that is just the right size for 6 jars, I keep it in the kitchen and load it every morning and take it with us, even if I don’t think I’ll be gone for long.
2. The kids drink the jars near the cooler and put them back when they’re done, no running all over the playground with glass water bottles!
3. You can put the jars inside of a sock (using the sock as a jar cozy), it keeps it cool, keeps it from slipping out of hands, makes it a bit more bouncier and the theory is that if it fall and breaks the glass will all be inside of the sock, pick up the sock and throw it away.
4. In a year I’ve only broken 1 jar and life would’ve been much easier if I would have had a small hand broom and dustpan with me. (note to self get a tiny broom/dustpan and put it in the side pocket of the cooler!)
See how easy? and cheap? With all that extra money you save on water bottles splurge on an extra pizza night!
Love,
Heather
janaki said,
November 9, 2007 @ 4:19 pm
That’s also better for your health anyway, and babys (and of course the environment). There’s that BSA or whatever that’s in plastic. Very dangerous!
mamaluxe said,
November 9, 2007 @ 7:45 pm
Love it for older kids and adults–great idea! For my toddler, though, I think the SIGG is a good idea–since she occasionally tosses her cup to the ground.
Thanks for passing along the tip!
rjps said,
November 9, 2007 @ 8:29 pm
We reuse plastic Gatorade bottles. They are made from a sturdier plastic, so I put them through the dishwasher when they need it. Because of my Gatorade habit when I was pregnant, we have a collection of about 20 of them, and it is very rare that they are all dirty at the same time.
It does still expose us to plastic, but my 13 month old loves to play with the lids on them!
mamaof5 said,
November 10, 2007 @ 8:21 am
a friend uses the organic juice glass juice bottles for water. They fit perfectly into the water bottle cozies. She also keeps the water next to her when the kids are at the park. LOL
Heather in Tucson
Sanity8080 said,
November 10, 2007 @ 8:42 am
My dh had a gatorade habit, so we have several gatorade bottles saved up. One of the ones with the swivel sport top, 2 of the qt size bottles, and about 12 of the pint size ones. My dh makes his tea in the qt ones, and I used to make juice in the small ones, but they are now the right size for dd (5½) to drink out of. Only problem is the size on them makes it impossible to find a sport top for them and dd is the one who really needs the sport top.
What I love is that the gatorade bottles are a thicker plastic and less likely to get deformed from being squished, because they don’t squish.
alisaterry said,
November 10, 2007 @ 10:45 am
This is what my DH and I call a “Duh!” moment. I was lamenting that some of those metal water bottles aren’t any healthier than plastic because they’re lined with aluminum. It didn’t occur to me to use glass! Duh!
typeogirl999 said,
November 10, 2007 @ 11:43 am
Good idea! We use reusable plastic sports bottles that never really wear out, so we’ve had them forever.
KMurr said,
November 10, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
To learn about the safest plastics to re-use (and ones never to re-use, like #1’s) go to Greenguide.com. Great information and articles on all things green! Number 2 bottles, like the ones from Odwalla juices, are fine to re-use, and they’re a great size.
KMurr said,
November 10, 2007 @ 4:04 pm
Oh, and please be careful which ones you wash in the dishwasher, as many plastics begin to leach dioxins and other nasties when washed in hot water!
I love the glass bottle-in-a-sock idea. Love it!
Persephone said,
November 10, 2007 @ 9:15 pm
I agree completely with the DUH comment. How completely simple and obvious! And the sock thing is pure genius. I know what we’ll be using now… Thanks, Hathor!
mama said,
November 13, 2007 @ 10:37 am
I started to use glass jars very recent for drinking water. My toddler loves to try to put the top on and off; it sure requires more ” work” to supervise, but it’s so much healthy in so many ways!. Totally agree wit you Hathor.
analisa_roche said,
November 17, 2007 @ 5:56 pm
The whole plastic thing has been bothering me a lot lately. I never knew about that area in the ocean, but I had read about how plastic never goes away, it just gets into smaller and smaller pieces and gets eaten by fish and lodged in their stomachs, etc. I bought some SIGG bottles and a Kleen Kanteen for my toddler, but they are expensive when there are other good options that I’ve already paid for, like salsa jars! And then we’ve heard so much lately about pthalates and Bisphenol A, ugh, I just want to phase out all the plastic. My husband is a chemist and he won’t heat the kids’ food in the microwave on plastic plates for the same reasons.