The Best Water Bottles - Metal vs. Plastic Water Bottles

The Best Water Bottles - Metal vs. Plastic Water Bottles
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Water is Crucial to Our Well Being

The human body is made up of 70% water and every function in every cell uses water to complete its processes. Your skin uses water to stay clear and supple. Your kidneys and gastrointestinal tract rely on water to help flush out toxins in your body through your urine and fecal matter. Your blood uses water to flow freely through your veins delivering much needed oxygen to your organs and muscles. Dehydration can even cause wrinkles as the skin becomes less resilient. Water is such a crucial part of your everyday life and it’s important to make sure you get enough each day and most people know that. Even still, many of us have a hard time fulfilling our daily requirement.

The easiest way to remind yourself to drink water is to carry a water bottle with you wherever you go, but that comes along with its own problems. It can be expensive buying disposable bottles and it creates a lot of plastic waste. So what can you do? Buy a great reusable water bottle and fill it yourself, but how do you find the bottle that’s best for you and what about filling it?

Plastic vs. Metal Water Bottles

Plastic water bottles are currently under scrutiny because polycarbonate bottles have been shown to leech possibly carcinogenic particles into your drinking water. This can be especially true if the bottle is left in extreme temperatures, like your car on a hot Las Vegas afternoon. That being said, there are some safe options. Plastics comprised of #2 HDPE (high density polyethylene), or a #4 LDPE (low density polyethylene), or a #5 PP (polypropylene) are safe to use. Naglene is a brand that offers reusable safe plastic bottle alternatives. The Naglene is made of hard rigid plastic and comes in a limited variety of colors and styles. Another plastic bottle that is available is the Soma crystal water bottle. Made of FDA approved non leaching plastic, it is flexible and flattens down when empty to make it easy to store and carry. The plastic bottles I found range in price from $5-$20.

If you can’t find the color or style you want or if plastic bottles seem risky, an alternative to plastic is metal water bottles. Gaiam water bottles come in many different colors and styles and are made of aluminum. They only come in one size though, so you may need to look to Klean Kanteen and Sigg bottles for something larger than 25oz. I’ve found that the Klean Kanteen bottles are the most durable. Its stainless steel construction makes it harder to dent than the softer Gaiam bottles. These bottles range in price from $13-$35. They come in all colors, styles, and sizes. They even have children’s sizes. The stainless steel or aluminum bottles are safer because the metal is non-leaching and usually treated with a water based coating to keep the water inside tasting fresh. The coating also keeps flavors from sticking once inside your reusable water bottle. I have both Gaiam and Klean Kanteen brand bottles and love them both. The metal water bottles are 100% recyclable, but since they are virtually indestructible you won’t need to.

Small Changes = Big Benefits

As for filling your water bottles, many people don’t like drinking tap water so it might also be a good idea to buy a great water filtration system as well. Start-up costs, including the cost of a filtration system, will be about $60 for two people but the bottles soon pay for themselves. I calculated that I spent about $60 a month on gallons of water for the fridge and bottles of water for the gym. Now I spend $20 every six months to buy a two pack of the filters for my Pur water system. I carry my bottle everywhere and have found that when I’m out I can usually get it filled at a restaurant or convenience store if necessary. I find that this small change has helped me improve my water intake which has, in turn, improved my overall health.