Summer time is here, and for me this means an increase in the water that I drink.

Do I really want to drink from plastic water bottles?

I want to have water with me at all times when I’m out so I need to look at my options. As ecogal: The Curious Consumer (and a Green Diva of course), I want to look at what I am buying with a few criteria in mind. Let’s start with these three.

1. What are the ingredients that make up what I am buying?
2. What makes up the container that it comes in?
3. In disposing of it, can it be recycled? 

Listen to Green Diva Meg and I talk about these and other great reasons to consider quitting plastic water bottles! 

Start by looking at the ingredients

Does the label tell where it’s bottled? If it doesn’t then I pass on it. I only want to buy those products that tell me exactly where it’s from and what’s in them.

If you don’t want to study every single bottle, you can use your browser to search. The Environmental Working Group offers a lot of information in the area of “water.” So does Consumer Reports and several other websites listed below.

• Mercola The 6 Worst Brands of Bottled Water You Can Buy
• Consumer Reports Do you know where your bottled water comes from?
• Environmental Working Group What’s In Your Bottled Water – Besides Water?
• Natural Resources Defense Coucil Bottled Water – Pure Drink or Pure Hype?

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Once I’ve determined the quality of water that I’m buying, I look at what kind of container it comes in.

For bottled water is seems to be either glass or plastic.

“Bottled water may be hurting your health.

A new study suggests plastic bottles release small amounts of chemicals over long periods of time. The longer water is stored in plastic bottles, the higher the concentration of a potentially harmful chemical, a new study suggests.”

~ Source: Ban the Bottle 7 bottled water myths – busted

I personally choose glass, until there’s better information about the plastics the bottle companies are using. Plus I like the taste of the water better when it’s from a glass bottle. 

Dispose of the bottle: can it be recycled?

Glass and plastic both can be recycled. To find the nearest recycling center, check out Re Planet and Earth 911.

A good solution is to find a reusable container

For me it works to use a great solution that is an actual glass bottle that is protected by silicone so it doesn’t easily break, and that is a concern when you are going around with the bottle in your bag.

Keeping your bottle clean is no problem: most of them can go in the dishwasher, but washing by hand will also do fine.

Also, just look around for fountains or filling stations where you can fill up your water bottle.

BONUS: 

Listen to this recent Green Divas @ Home podcast about what NOT to flush down the toilet . . .

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