Water bottles: plastic, glass, stainless steel, or ...?

i work for the sierra club and we did an article on this in our magazine:

http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200311/lol5.asp

i have a super lightweight aluminum bottle that i like, called a Kleen Kanteen

For my work, I've switched from Nalgene to a simple glass jar

apparently, plastic is fine (in terms of toxicity) as long as you don't fill it with tea.

What are you using it for: hiking, around the house, or around town?

All around all the time. Hot tea, cold water, travel in Hungary. I'm thinking Christmas present (shhhh). Been doing the refilling plastic bottles and glass jars thing for a while - wanting to upgrade to something safe and convenient and long-lasting. The cup thing would be a nice perk.

have to disagree with nomtastic on the plastic thing, sorry chica! all plastics are bad to drink out of, with varying levels of toxicity, nalgenes being one of the worst. i agree with occ on the clean canteen, its what I use as well. really anything thats stainless steel is good, dont go for the aluminum as its linked to other problems like alzheimers which I dont know how to spell : )

kleen kanteen is also good because you can buy different caps depending on what you want, but dont think they have the nifty cup thing you were talking about

Nalgenes are bad for you!!??? I have been drinking out of them for years. what makes them bad? By the way, stainless steel is the best. except for coffee. kind of gives a bad taste.

Retro glass milk bottles -- though they're a little difficult to clean.

I'm curious about the whole plastic-leeching-estrogenates theory. I'm not going to start microwaving in plastic anytime soon, but is re-using the Nalgene what makes it unsafe?

I'd think hard-to-clean factor would play a larger factor in my general health.

bisphenol A is the compound that is unhealthy in plastic. here's a link about it: http://www.newbornfree.com/pics/bornfree/index_bottles.htm

A friend of mine works at ecopledge on the east coast and is running the "detox nalgene" campaign for them. There's bad stuff in those bottles... check out http://www.ecopledge.com/detoxnalgene/index.htm

I heard a researcher talk about plastic, and it is really bad to drink out of--the leaching that happens when people put food in plastic in the microwave is also something you would want to avoid. Much of his research is extremely scary, and the plastic people are not happy with his research. If someone wants his name, I think I can find it.

I once thought Nalgenes were the most stable and therefore safest of plastic containers until I did some research on it. Turns out they leech more dangerous chemicals into your water than even a cheap shelf-bought bottle of water and they get worse over time. Without a doubt, glass is really the safest way to go but of course if you need something to travel/camp with then stainless steel is the next best thing. Avoid aluminum!

I concur. Plastics leach various bad things, aluminum is linked to alzheimer's, other dementia, glass is good but delicate, stainless steel is good, or you could go the pioneer route with cast iron (which leaches iron, which is a good thing for most of us)

I am trying to find a good water bottle as well to remedy my concerns, and I would prefer glass. I haven't found anywhere that sells glass water bottles for humans, not hamsters. Does anyone know where to find lighter weight glass bottles? Someone recommended that I buy that fancy Voss water and just reuse the bottle, but it is in a long awkward shape, not good for throwing in your purse!!

I’m been thinking about this too, and after some research I’ve decided to get a Sigg. The have a water-based coating that’s completely non-leeching. Sometimes I think Klean Kantene tastes metallic, and I’m hoping the Sigg will become my hero.

Breaking (bad) news, one year later about Nalgene, from AP.

polycarbonates;

Just stumbled on this old question…. how’s the Sigg? Or did anyone else find a good bottle?

i just bought a camelbak bottle, then heard about the evil of plastic water bottles. i’ve been looking into getting a sigg as well. not really sure what voss water is. does it come in glass?

My health teacher had thyroid problems from drinking from plastic bottles. She switched to glass jars.

Surlygirl, Voss is a brand of bottled water that comes in a glass bottle, yes.

i just visited the sigg website and all of its bottles seem bo made from aluminum. i thought aluminum was also bad and that we were advised to use glass or stainless steel. any thoughts?

Yes, it is made of aluminum, but sigg also uses a leech-free water-based enamel lining. It’s the only one that I know that has passed 3rd party testing (for chemical leeching).

I’m happy with mine, too. Though it does dent easily.

I just bought a nathan water bottle at Dicks. It is made of 18/8 food grade stainless steel. It has a beautiful straw, unlike the camelback, which I found hard to use. I bought it for my son. The one we bought changes color when you add cold water, it is really cool. And I do like the idea of a straw, you only need one had to use and sip from nathan. Has anyone seen or tried this brand? I did not buy a Sigg water bottle after seeing the reviews on their dishonesty, I also found they dent real easy. I decided to get my son a new water bottle because the Nalgene’s (doesn’t matter what brand) gives off a smell if you leave your water in it for a day or two. I called the company and they said Nalgene water bottles are a day pack. You should dry out at night and not leave water in them.