Danger water bottle, Danger!

Yesterday, a random work-related tangent lead me to pursue a fervent search of all issues regarding water bottles and bisphenol A (BPA).

Although I'm the daughter of one of the greenest men out there, I'm picky about my water - not about the brand of bottled water (that is ridiculous) but drinking straight out of the tap gives me the willies. Therefore, I habitually buy large bottles of water and refill them for at least 10 days to 2 weeks before recycling the bottles. Apparently that is a no no.

I'd heard that the reuse of plastic bottles is believed to cause things like strep throat, but I've been conveniently (by choice) oblivious to the dangers of BPA leaching. An article from Scientific American linked from one of the sources I found online can be seen here.

At the risk of making a fool of myself, I must say that for the most part it appears that plastic bottles containing BPA are only dangerous if one heats them. I do reuse my smartwater, Aquafina, Dasani, etc bottles, but I never heat them, never put them in the dishwasher, never leave them in my car to bake. And by the way, I haven't had strep throat since elementary school.

Nevertheless, I made a new resolution to reduce my carbon footprint - and perhaps my risk of developing cancer - by making use of my stainless steel water bottles when possible. Not to worry, all plastic bottles used in my house are recycled - including the caps (thanks Aveda!)

I own both of the bottles pictured above. They are BILT bottles that I bought a couple of years ago for a fraction of their retail cost via the REI Outlet.

I have a hard time finding acceptably safe water bottles because I loathe "sport" bottles. The flip-tops and the CamelBak bite valves gross me out. I feel like you can never really get those things clean.

For now I'm gonna stick with my BILT bottles and Klean Kanteens and try to break myself from my plastic bottle refill habit.