Reduce, Reuse

Everybody seems to be drinking more water lately, which is awesome.  Obviously it's the best thing for your body to quench thirst, it's no cal, you can take it anywhere, you can pretty much find it anywhere, it's all we drink in our house.  So about the taking it anywhere part, having a portable drink is necessary these days, whether we are out and about shopping, exercising, shuttling kids, it's important to stay hydrated.  

There's a catch though, you know those plastic water bottles that are at the store? People buy them in bulk and use them to drink their water and carry it around with them.  Well I hate to rain on your "I'm so healthy I'm drinking bottled water" parade, but that could possibly be one of the worst things for you to do.  
First of all, it's completely unnecessary.  That water in those plastic bottles is *not* any better for you than your tap water, in fact, in a lot of cases it's much, much worse.  There is no regulation on what is in that water you're getting, "mountain spring" sounds fantastic, I agree, but what if that "mountain spring" is just run off from a manufacturing plant that is purified and put into those bottles?  And then there's the plastic, those bottles are full of BPA and other lovely chemicals that leach into the water when those bottles are heated up.  "But I never keep them in my car to heat up" some say, maybe you don't, but trust me, on the way to your mega-store, they got hot, so when you buy them, you're already getting a cocktail of chemicals.  Aside from the chemicals for you, there's the effect on the environment, the plastic bottles that don't decompose and take lots of petroleum to make.  And there's much, much more.  I recommend watching Tapped if you want to learn more.  

So, what do you do? You want to be healthy and drink lots of water, but now you're afraid of bottled water.  There are LOTS of reusable bottles on the market, invest in some of those and you will be set!  Personally, I like to stay away from all plastic as much as possible.  Yes, you can buy BPA-free bottles, but IMHO, they are plastic, so they probably just have some horrible chemical we haven't discovered is terrible for us yet. My current favorite reusable water bottle is this one from thermos:

It's insulated so it keeps the water cold, it can go in the dishwasher, and it has a straw to drink out of.  Not a paid endorsement, just sharing my favorite.  There are also Sigg bottles Sigg Traveler Classic Water Bottle , klean kanteen Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel Water Bottle , and many others.  There are versions for kids too!  Z loves his batman funtainer:

There are even stainless steel sippy cups by companies like Kid basix, and klean kanteen Kolor Klean Kanteen Sippy Cup Orange, thermos Thermos Foogo Phases Leak Proof Stainless Steel Sippy Cup, 7 Ounce, Blue/Yellow, and many others.  We have a few Kid Basix and love them.

Full disclosure, it's not like I *never* drink from plastic water bottles, when we're on a road trip we put some in the cooler to drink in the car.  My point is, don't do it all the time if you can help it, do what you can.  Think of all the money you will save filling your reusable water bottle from your fridge supply instead of buying a big box of bottled water every week!  What's your favorite reusable water bottle?

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