Water Bottles... and the topic of Green!

So, everyone wants to "GO GREEN" these days. Car companies, retail outlets, major international corporations, are all touting the fact that they are trying (some legit, some rhetorical) to get on some sort of track to a healthier planet earth.

This year was a bit of a watershed for myself as well, as I have tried to go from just doing minor recycling to investigating what I can do to cut back on waste, etc.

A friend of mine during the summer pointed out that a large chunk of our waste stock piles in the united states are being generated by Water Bottles.

Many of us are drinking more water for the health benefits it gives us. That is really great. Everyone drink your two liters a day! Yippee! However, it's how we consume the water that also needs to be examined. Jenny and I used to go through a case to two cases of water a day, and despite recycling a majority of those plastic bottles, there is still an impact on the amount of waste we are creating each week.

Plastic bottles are not only affecting the environment but individual health as well. Studies are coming out now linking certain health risk to an unhealthy intake of textiles in the American Diet. I mean, I will not even go into the disgusting fact that one of the ingredients in the Cream filling for Twinkies is also an ingredient for industrial glue; however, think about this? When was the last time you left a bottle of water in the car headed into work, and then drank it on the car ride home? Well, when these bottles get hot, an amount of the plastic actually releases from the bottle into the water. You drink that. You put it into your body. Down the line that adds up to negative health issues.

So, we have two issues here. 1) How do we cut back on using water bottles? 2) How do we make sure the water we consume in not contaminated?

Well, here's what I did based on the recommendation of a friend. I purchased an Aluminum Water Bottle, and then a Brita Filter system. Now, many of you have Brita's in your home. If you have no idea what a Brita Filter system is, just click here. You can go check out their website. So, the Aluminum bottle is my new little buddy. I take it everywhere with me. The bottle is durable reusable, and the leaching issues associated with plastic bottles is no longer a concern. Now, I must confess, I purchased a pretty ugly bottle. I got it at whole foods, and it resembles something that a construction worker will take into work. I like it's simplicity, but some of you want something a little more aesthetically pleasing. Well, if you saw the picture in this post, you were perhaps a little wowed by the designs put up by the Dutch company SIGG.

SIGG makes their bottles through the an extrusion press system. So that the bottle is made from a one-piece aluminium blank, which results in uniform, seamless walls. This means no possibility of it leaking due to a poorly welded seam.

SIGG took their bottles to the next level with the hundred of fun and hip designs they decided to to finish the bottles with. For the more manly, there are a few Camo and Skull and Cross bone designs. For the purists, they have completely bare unfinished bottles, and for those looking to be a bit more couture. They have a whole CITY line for the urban art geek. And get your munchkins out-fitted with their line of bottles for kids. If you are nervous about ordering on line, then head to your local Whole Foods. They carry them by the alcohol. Both the round and flask bottles.

With the water filter, and Aluminum bottle, you basically knock back your waste issues considerably! So, take a look, see if it's for you. The cost for a Brita system is about $40.00 and aluminum bottles cost as high as $19.00 (Sigg) or as low as $12.95, my cheaper version. So, you may end up spending sixty bucks up front, but a typical case of water is about $6.00 and you may go through 1 or 2 of those a week. So, in a month or so, you would recoup your investment.
As, a whole, I encourage all people who visit Art of Function to examine how much of an impact your lifestyle has on the environment. It's the little things that add up.