Leaderboard Banner

Upgrade Green: Hydration Station

by Myron Mariano
Organic Spa Magazine

Next to my passport and wallet, a container for water ranks high on my can’t-forgets whenever I’m traveling—which I’ll be doing quite a bit of this month. I drink a lot out of habit, and I refuse to buy bottled water since the cost adds up, especially if I’m in the touristic part of the city. I get it, I’m paying for convenience, but to charge me upwards of 3€ for a few satisfying gulps is absurd.

Another reason why I don’t pick them up—and this is more poignant—is because I do not want to be part of the problem. According to the website Ban the Bottle (banthebottle.net), Americans use 50 billion water bottles each year, with only 38 billion getting recycled. Twelve billion bottles become waste; any way that I can stop adding to this growing number is an option I’ll always take.

Reusable water bottles are awesome: I can fill them up as often as I want, I save money every time I use them, and I prevent another plastic bottle from ending up in a landfill.

Organic Spa Magazine Hydration Station

One of my favorites is Hydrapak’s Wooly Insulated bottles (from $10.99, hydrapak.com). I like my water really cold—to the bewilderment of my friends in Germany, France, and Belgium—and these bottles are perfect for that purpose. They are lined with Primaloft Eco insulation that keeps the temperature of the liquid the same for a very long time.

Organic Spa Magazine Hydration Station

Platypus’s SoftBottles (from $7.95, cascadedesigns.com) are a part of my must-bring list as well. These flexible bottles are 80 percent lighter than the regular hard kind. What’s great about them is that they take up very little space when empty—I just roll the body up and stash them somewhere in my backpack.

Organic Spa Magazine Hydration Station

Lifefactory’s glass bottles with silicone sleeves and straw cap (from $22.99, lifefactory.com) are ideal for upright drinking. These are the best picks when I am squeezing in a yoga session or heck, even a spinning class if I’m feeling energetic, since I don’t have to tip the container—and lose my balance or momentum in the process.

If there’s one New Year’s Resolution—I’m sure you are already thinking of yours—I’d like a lot of people to make, it’s to reduce, if not eliminate, the use of plastic water bottles. These are only three of the hundreds of possibilities in the market today. It’s an easy switch; make a difference.

 Connect with Myron @myron_m

You may also like