Your bike is going to be a lot worse for the environment than a couple of water bottles will be.

You mean you don't have an elephant leading your ride? This is the 21st century, man.

+1

I'm glad that you reuse your bottles and they work well for you. I think mostly everyone reuses their bottles.

The OP was looking for alternatives, and instead he got a bunch of people saying "why do you want an alternative? there's nothing wrong with plastic." That's not what he asked. I'm pretty much done with this particular thread since I've already given my opinion, but before I go, a statement in my own defense.

I "worry" about the taste of my water because why wouldn't I choose better tasting water given the option? That said, I'll drink water without complaint out of a dirty paper cup off the ground if I'm thirsty enough. My stainless steel bottle is far from "sterilized." I wash it infrequently and I leave my unfinished water in it until the next time I ride so I'm sure it's teaming with bacteria and it's plenty "stale." That part doesn't bother me in the least, since it still tastes fine and my body can handle a bit of bacteria. You think I'm full of it, no skin off my back. What harm is it to you what bottle I use?

One of my friends married a Ukranian. Years ago when travel to "the old country" first got to be easier, they left some plastic grocery store bags with the Mother. She was still using them (and thought they were great, she couldn't figure out why we'd just throw them out) when they came back five years later.

That's hularious.

Well, that's what I was wondering myself.

However, this thread HAS gotten me thinking. I use the same water bottle for years on end, but I drink about 700-800 bottles of soda a year. I have to knock that off just for my own health; not generating the waste plastic is a good additional reason.

+1

Most of our local grocery stores have bag recycling bins.

I completely agree on recycling.

If we buy single serve bottles for a picnic out of town, we bring them back and recycle them.

I would love the old days when it was all in glass and have a good recycling program!

Stay upright,

Winnipeg, Canada

A lawyer told me the reason that glass bottles are not reused anymore is that reused glass bottles occasionally would just shatter in the drinkers' hand and that people were suing.

I still have some water bottles that came with our Santana tandem that we bought in 1986. They work fine.

Way back when I was in High School plastic soda bottles were just coming into use. My class toured a Pepsi bottling plant. At the time they were still processing the reusable glass bottles and the new plastic bottles. We asked about the cost of each and which the company preferred. The manager of the plant told us that the glass bottles cost them more as an initial investment but were far cheaper in the long run because of their reuse. He said that they were being forced to switch to plastic because of strong customer demand.

We are getting what we ask for.

we should switch back to glass bottles for single-serving beverages. that would really cut back on the volume of trash we throw away. and think about how much cyclists would benefit from the reduction in flat tires.

[/sarcasm]

if a better solution existed we'd already be using it.

There were many problems with glass (breakage being the biggest), but washing and reusing returnable glass bottles was easy on the environment. I wish we could come up with an unbreakable container that can be washed, sterilized, and reused.

Do you see people in the 70s and 80s walking around with plastic bottles or paper cups from fast food restaurants? No, people hydrate themselves at home, cafe, or restaurant before going out. I don't find that I need to carry around a bottle of water everywhere or have a cup of cola in my car. I drink as much as I need and go.

I must be older than you are because when I drink as much as I need then I go and go and GO!

That only works up to a point. In the 70s, I can go an hour without trouble without drinking. In the 80s, I can but prefer to have a drink. In the mid-90s, I really should take water with me.

Even in the 70s, if I'm riding more than a couple of hours, I really need to have a drink with me or stop and get one somewhere.

I should have been taking pictures of the road this weekend. The quantity of broken glass out there is incredible. Back in Manitoba, there would be heaps of broken glass around Winnipeg because drunks from Winnipeg would throw their beer bottles at the road signs nearby, but once you got out into the country, there was no more broken glass. Here, it's everywhere!

I wish ALL beverage of ALL sorts would come in plastic containers (or cans)!! Anything but glass.

If you are concerned about our environment, perhaps a stainless steel infuser bottle is the best option for us. We can also use reusable water bottle that is not harmful for our health.

now Beer comes in Aluminum bottles..

Your comment reopened a thread from 2007...

Zombie thread, yes. But the subject is still hot today. I guess it's better than starting yet ANOTHER thread about water bottles.

Its Nuts, Be Careful out there..
Girl hospitalized by bottle bomb tossed from SUV


https://katu.com/news/local/bottle-b...couver-pd-says..