Yes, there are several companies that make aluminum water bottles. You can find them at REI and Sierra Trading Post. Sig is one manufacturer.

You don't have to ask for paper bags either. Use reusable bags. Many grocery stores sell the bags now and even give you a credit for using them. Fresh Fields/Whole Foods sells them and gives you $0.15 per bag you use. They are lightweight, and take almost no room in your car or bag.

Who buys 1-3 water bottles a day? Are you talking about "bottled water" as oppossed to the plastic bottles designed to carry water specifically for bicycles?

Welcome to Tex-ass.

Well, the link in his first post was talking about single-serving bottled water - which generally has nothing to do with cycling.

real men carry a rag to sop up their sweat and ring it out in their mouths, but who wants to be a real man?

Headline should read SF mayor Newsom wastes helicopter fuel while checking to make sure the lake is still there.

I tried an aluminum bottle and hated it. I wanted to get away from the plastic tasting water.

Two issues sent me back to my old reliable plastic bottles.
1] Metal bottle dont collapse when you drink from them so you can not get much water out in one shot. The best way to drink was to blow into the bottle and drink from the resulting pressure in the bottle. Pretty dysfunctional.

2] They rattle in the bottle cages. Not a little bit, but every grain in the road sent out noise from the bottle. Tried bending cages and eveything else to no avail. In the end, this is why I ditched them.

I've had my current 2 plastic bottles for 2 or 3 years so I think the enviro impact is pretty much nil.

Bear Grylls sucked water from elephant dung on Man vs Wild. Now that is manly.

I've been using klean kanteen for 6 years now, and aside from a few small dents, this is by far the single greatest water bottle created. I love how clean tasting the water is. I wash my bottles once a week in the dishwasher and the water always tastes clean. Even if the bottle sits in your car heats up and then cools back down, there are no strange plasticy tastes. I have a 27 oz in my bottle holder on my bike and a 40oz in my pack, and these bottles should last a lifetime.

http://www.kleankanteen.com/2product...teen-27oz.html

50¢ at Dollar Store with water. Just as refillable as any other water bottle. No odor; no off taste. Light and easy way to handle 1.5 liter while riding.

I've stopped the rattling with two fat rubber bands tied to the bottle holder and around the frame. True, the bottles don't collapse, but on my Klean Kanteen spout, there is a hole in the cap to allow the pressure to be release and a very generously sized spout. I actually get more water out of my bottle faster than with those plastic squeeze bottles with a small hole.

Wholeheartedly agree. I tell the cashier to put stuff back in the cart when it's rung up. Then I take the cart out to my bike and load up the panniers and/or duffel bag. We also re-use plastic grocery sacks for similar purposes as you do, when we get them.

Me too. I carry all my water in my hands, but that means I have to make a lot of stops on my rides. I am saving up for a water bag made from a camel's udder. TOTALLY biodegradable!

Actually, I think the industry does allow for a certain percentage of recycled plastic to be used in new plastic bottle manufacture. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I saw that on a "How It's Made" episode about plastic container manufacture on the Science Channel.

On my rides around here looks like most people "Recycle" them to the roadside.

Patagonia makes a couple of different fleece jackets out of recycled plastic bottles.

Meh - this whole thread is backwards. Denmark, Germany etc have water that comes in thick plastic bottles that are cleaned and reused multiple times. What's the point in recycling something that could be reused? The deposit on plastic bottles in the US (even in those states that have them) is way too low, and supermarkets get away with putting recycling machines that function 2 hours away down piss-soaked alleys. As a result, taking bottles back for the deposit in the US is pretty much the shameful reserve of vagrants and the terminally tight-fisted (I'm the latter).

A 25c deposit on every bottle would drastically reduce waste/litter, and improve re-use. Of course, there's zero political support for it...
I get cow poo delivered to my desk for 11am break... ;)

Otherwise known as "polar fleece."

That's for sure! Those plastic bags are almost worthless.

The last time I was buying a gallon of milk, the cashier asked me "Do you want you milk in a bag?" I said "Heck No! Leave it in the jug. It'll leak out of the bag."

She looked at me kinda funny but I'm used to that.

since we're talking green
 

actually they use pcr content in all of their fleece. and they use all of the scraps to make kids stuff. their corporate headquarters fills two dumpsters with trash in an entire year. it's an amazingly green setup.

and as a plug for their organic cotton...it takes nearly 3lbs of pesticides to grow enough cotton to make a single t-shirt. cotton grown for clothing is the single biggest user of pesticide in the world.

In the context of the preceeding discusion I think that was pretty obvious.

Al

I'd suggest reading this article:
NYT Magazine: The Unintended Consequences of Hyperhydration

Al

Filling just two dumpsters in an entire year? That's impressive.

Welp, I have a Patagonia fleece jacket which I had for a couple years and I'm sure I'll continue to get many more years of service out of it.

That's why I carry watermelon slices. They're bio-degradable and the act of throwing them out creates a new supply :beer:

I'm in total agreement with you. Everyone's talking about these aluminum bottles verses plastic bottles. Just get a stainless steel Klean Kanteen. Mine don't rattle at all and I use a standard metal bottle cage. However, if you're worried it's gonna rattle, Klean Kanteen makes a plastic bottle cage designed for the metal bottle.

Also, the water comes out just as fast as squeezing a plastic bottle, due to the suction valve in the cap. Plus, they look way better. If you're not a weight weenie and you want good tasting water, I don't see why you'd go with anything else.