With the numerous reports about recycling plastic water bottles can cause health toxicity, I took the initiative, albeit a delayed one, to research an alternative method to tote water with me. I took an interest for stainless steel bottle when I saw a booth selling them in a fair. It shocked me that it cost around 17-20$ for a medium sized bottle. So I didn’t buy it and as an unofficial consumer researcher, I investigated for cheap but good quality stainless bottles in the the internet. I saw one nicely designed water bottle at starbucks for $15, but looking at their history, I don’t think starbucks care for the consumer’s health in relation to the quality of the bottle, they just sell according to design which attracts lot of customers (me included). They still sell plastic coffee carafe which according to one consumer report has a low-grade plastic material (to wit, plastic has 7 grades – 1 being the lowest kind of plastic).

So what’s in the plastic that makes it toxic? Well stay clear of plastic with BPA – all plastic has this even canned good has a BPA lining. The toxicity problem arises when it gets incorporated in your water as you always reuse your plastic bottles. BPA has been associated with some form of cancer. I also found out that even though there are recycling factories for plastic, plastic still isn’t 100% recycled and reused and still makes a waste in the environment. Thus came the stainless water bottle.

Stainless water bottles are eco-friendly, safe and reusable. It doesn’t have any BPA lining although before buying you need to look into the product carefully because some bottles do have BPA lining. It’s stylish and surprisingly light-weight. According to the manufacturers, the bottles do not leak, rust or corrode and there’s no metallic taste to your water. They’re durable compared to plastic. However these bottles don’t act as thermos, and you can’t put hot water in it or put the bottle in a freezer.

The few brands that I look up into are Klean Kanteen, Sigg, and Nalgene. They are all priced at around $15-$30. The only Nalgene bottles that I saw were plastic one. Even though they advertise that it’s BPA-free, I’d rather not take my chances. I first chose Sigg because it’s made in Switzerland and has really fun designs. But I eventually bought Klean Kanteen because….:1. it’s slender – it’s not bulky when placed inside the bag unlike the Sigg bottle which is stout; 2. the overall presentation is good – it looks sleek unlike the Sigg bottles where the paint finish is really horrible even the inside of the bottle smells faintly of paint; 3. No metallic odor.

I’m so happy that I bought Klean Kanteen. It’s worth the money and I won’t be looking for plastic bottles to reuse anymore. Also I love the pink color!

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