My Quest For The “Perfect” Water Bottle

Last year, I wrote about the BPA in our water bottles and my quest for finding the perfect (according to me) water bottle. Since the summer I’ve been using the plethora of different sized, double-walled stainless steel thermoses we already owned and that was great for keeping things cold and avoiding the BPA in the polycarbonate bottles (and there are no plastic liners in our thermoses). But I dearly missed having a straw top on my water bottle like I did with all of my polycarbonate bottles.

Here is my list of what a perfect water bottle would consist of:

• BPA-free
• Double-walled stainless steel
• Straw top
• Cover for straw
• Non-leaking
• Attractive
• Fit in my car’s cup holder
• Hold more than 2 cups of water
• Reasonably Priced

I received a free Camelbak “Better Bottle” that is BPA-free and has the straw top but it is not insulated. It works fine as my household water bottle but is not so good for taking with me when it’s hot out plus it does leak a little when it’s on it’s side which is what happens in the car or in my tote bag. That is a deal breaker for me. At least the variety of thermoses I have been carting around in the car keeps the water cold for a long time and they don’t leak but having to unscrew the top each time I wanted a drink was annoying and time consuming.

I did check out the Klean Kanteen water bottles but never bought one because they are only single walled stainless steel and you have to unscrew the cap, too. What I already owned was better, IMO and I have a variety of sizes.

A few months later, I had finally found my perfect water bottle! The only problem was that every time I went to purchase it at the store, they were out of the nice, attractive bottles and all that was left were ones for kids with characters on them like Dora the Explorer or Spiderman. Even though I was looking for a bigger, better water bottle for my son as well as myself, I didn’t want the superhero on it. So I waited. I kept using what I had while I periodically checked for the bottles I wanted to be in stock at a few different stores. The stores told me they only receive a few of the non-character ones but many of the ones I didn’t want!

Finally, in late October, my local Target had a few non-character water bottles available and I got the blue striped one for my son as one of his Christmas gifts. He loves it and so do I! It does NOT leak, has the straw with a one button pop open top that both protects the straw and keeps it from leaking and it even fits in my car’s small cup holder and holds 18 oz of water (more than 2 cups!). That is good enough for running errands for me and for longer trips, I will fill my big double-walled stainless steel thermos to leave in the car to refill my perfect carrying sized new water bottle. And the price? it’s around 15 bucks. Oh happy day for me!

This water bottle is made by Thermos and it is the Intak Steel Hydration Bottle.  For some reason on the web page it does not say that it is BPA-free but the tag on the bottle itself lists it in a few places. I will be getting myself the purple flower design one since I must have this bottle now!

For little kids, Thermos makes the BPA-free Foogo line of stainless steel food and beverage containers (smaller size).

I have to say, we’ve owned several stainless steel products made by Thermos for many years and they have never failed us in what they are designed to do so I have faith that this new, “perfect” water bottle will provide us with years of drinking enjoyment!

BPA-Free Water Bottles

I have been researching which new water bottles I want to switch us over to now that I know the majority of my heavily used water bottles are polycarbonate #7 bottles and unfortunately, full of BPA.  I live in a dryer climate and love using my water bottles so much, I carry one everywhere I go.  I even started to use it all the time in my house, too a few years ago because I found with a little kid around, a glass of water on a desk or table got knocked over more than I liked.

I feel like pounding my head into the wall over this because BPA is a hormone disruptor and causes infertility issues and has even been specifically indicated in a hormone disorder I have.  Needless to say, I’m seriously upset over this.

I saw this post today called “BPA-free water bottle showdown” over at the Gardenaut blog and have to give big kudos to them for taking the time to test so many details that I definitely wanted to know about.  It’s a really great review.

One of the Thermos brand and Kleen Kanteen brand water bottles they reviewed are similar to one we have here that my husband bought a long, long time ago for carrying his coffee in a briefcase (and never uses anymore).  It’s a stainless steel, double walled 18 oz screw top lid with cup on top.  I never thought about using it for water (and the double wall will insulate ice water to keep it cold for hours) because I’m a straw-top water bottle kind of girl.  We call it “mama’s sippy” around here since my son likes straw-top sippy cups and water bottles the best, too.  I’ve switched to using this stainless steel bottle and thanks to this new guide, I will find myself a new straw-top, BPA-free “mama sippy” once again.

I tell ya, you must keep up on everything nowadays.  There is so much toxic, chemical crap in our water bottles, toys, food, baby items, household products, cleaning products, bodycare products, clothing, landscaping products, etc.  You must read labels, read news articles, stay informed to keep yourself and your family as toxin-free as possible.  No wonder so many people in this country develop weird, funky diseases and/or cancer.  We are so over-exposed to toxins and basically our bodies are massively toxed out!

Everyone would benefit from doing a detox diet or flush a few times a year.  It really pays off for your health in the long run.