A Mom Nearly Loses It Over Single Use Plastic Water Bottles
Recently, my friend Lori reached out to me on Facebook about plastic water bottles.
Yea, this friend Lori spells her name just like me; however, this Lori is not to be confused with my other friend Lori who I’ve known since 7thgrade.
This Lori has a husband named Jon while I also have a husband named John. Eerie.
This Lori is the Lori I worked with 31 years ago when I was at the U.S. Department of Labor (my first career job). After Lori left, we lost touch, but thanks to good old Facebook, we are back in communication!
Since we first met in the late 80s, Lori and I have become fanatical “greenies”. I’ve been at it a little longer, so she sometimes messages me with questions like the one below about affordable options for single use plastic water bottles when you are poolside.
Lori
Hey there! I have a real issue to ask you about… for help. We have a pool. It is lovely. We have kids. We have kids who have friends over. Water bottles. I fucking hate them Lori! We have a fridge out back that I have always kept juice boxes for when the girls were younger… boxes… recyclable. I need a suggestion for all the water bottles we go through on a given day. Something I can put in the outside fridge that the kids can grab. HELP! I can’t look at the plastic or I will lose it more than I already have! xoxoxoxo
Me
How about asking kids to bring their own reusable water bottles? Most are stainless steel, so they aren’t breakable and safe around a pool. And how about a glass water dispenser that you can fill up with filtered water and place in the fridge?
Lori
Glass outside, even in fridge is never good. Fridge is small but I will see what I can do. You know how when you go to a spa the have a big ass thing of water with cucumber in it? Maybe I can do that and set it on table with washable plastic glasses that I have. You made me think and I will research. Thanks!
Me
Stay away from the plastic! It leaches into your water! Those kids should ALL have reusable water bottles by now! They can fill them up with your dispenser! (nag, nag, nag!)
A Possible Solution
Lori’s husband Jon came up with a good, affordable idea.
Lori
I agree… Jon actually came up with a good idea. He said we can get the non-leachable bottles that are reusable and just fill them up and keep them in the outside fridge so company can grab a bottle and I can just wash it. I know camelback has the safe ones. Do you know of other brands that are less expensive that are safe? My kids think I’m nuts because I have changed so much with all of this stuff. I asked them to get on board with me regarding pool drinks and they asked why the change. I guess I never taught them well before and now they come home from college and there are all these labeled trash cans in my pantry for them to recyle. Where they live in Tallahassee, they don’t even have recycling at their apartment. I don’t get it. If you don’t teach kids their age, how sick is the planet going to be for their kids?
Me
I like Jon’s idea! Kleen Kanteen’s least expensive is $19.95. Hydroflask is also nice, but they are more expensive. Can’t these kids learn to bring their own water bottle and fill up at the tap? Isn’t that what you and I did?
Lori
Morning… bought some reusable plastic bottles and have them filled and out in the fridge by pool. Lets see how it goes! I LOVE that there aren’t bottles around! This will make everyone think twice about all the stuff they waste from water to those unsightly bottles that make me insane! xoxoxoxo
Me
Way to go! Let me know how it works out!
The Results
Lori
Okay so wanted to tell you that the reusable bottles in the fridge idea is brilliant! The kids love it! Well my kids don’t because they have to clean them up after their friends, but their friends think it is cool to use them. These are college kids so they ‘get it.’ Only thing I haven’t been able to do is offer people who have been doing work here bottles because they don’t get that you have to leave them here when you are cutting the grass, etc. I usually would just hand them a bottle and walk away and they take water bottles, but I haven’t figured that one out yet (other than saying just leave the bottle please). I found a plastic water bottle thrown on my lawn and knew it wasn’t from my yard. I am SO anti-plastic now! Mother’s Day was all washables and it went into one dishwasher load… NO TRASH. Lovely cloth napkins that look so nice. I am learning!
The New Look for Lori’s Outdoor Fridge
The Product That Worked
Lori ended up purchasing water bottles from the company Reduce Every Day that are specifically meant for storing in the refrigerator and fit Lori’s small outdoor fridge just perfectly.
Update
One month after Lori instituted the change, she shared this with me.
Once again, the reusable bottle idea is amazing! My recycling bin is down so much in summer due to this idea. My kids are bringing out bigger containers of water and consuming more water since they aren’t limited to the small bottles of water. They have these bottles that light up when they aren’t drinking enough by a certain time and it connects to something. Jon gave me one and I didn’t want to see that I am not doing right by myself so I gave it to my daughter and she loves it since she is training for competition.
Back to You
What challenges are you experiencing as you strive to live green? Share them with me in the comments below!
Lori Hill
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Comments
Hi Lori! Happy Summer!
How about a large pitcher of filtered water in the fridge (maybe along with some colorful citrus slices) and pretty plastic glasses in diffrent patterns ?
Joanna –
just seeing this. My apologies! I love the idea of a large pitcher of filtered water in the fridge, but glasses tip over and spill, especially around certain college kids! Also, anything plastic is out of the question! I use S’well water bottles and they keep my water COLD!!! In fact, just this past weekend, I filled up my S’well with a bunch of ice and it wouldn’t melt because the bottle is double insulated! It was nutty!
Thanks for sharing this great idea. We already stop purchasing bottled water too. It is very expensive and very unhealthy. My children has their own reusable plastic bottles already.
Good for you, Tim! Thanks for sharing! I hope you’ll share this post with others and, at the very least, remind friends and family who still use bottled water that it is expensive and unhealthy — for us AND the planet!
Take care,
Lori
P.S. My apologies for the delayed response. The notification of your message never reached me via email.