Nalgene Plastic Water Bottles Eco Product Review

Nalgene sent me a lot of their bottles to test, seven in total. Reusable bottles are a great alternative (we’ve previously looked at SIGG) and these plastic bottles represent many different styles and uses so it was great to test them.

From left to right in the image below we received two 32oz wide mouth HDPE Retro bottles; Oasis Loop Red Top; Loop Top - Sunny Yellow; pink ATB Bottle; OTG bottle; and a Loop top.

As you can see the bottles vary quite a lot. All are extremely durable, resistant to staining, resistant to retaining odors, dishwasher safe (top rack only) and guaranteed leak proof. The wide mouth bottles didn’t really appeal to me, though are much easier for getting ice into them, and can be hand washed easily. The other narrower bottles really have to go in the dishwasher to get properly clean. Our favorite is the OTG bottle that does not leach any taste, is a handy size and very sturdy. It probably looks the best out of them all, and can be opened with one hand.

It’s a tough choice to choose a reusable water bottle these days. Which ones leach, which ones don’t, is plastic reusable OK, or are aluminum or steel bottles better? What is the cost of manufacture compared to “disposable” plastic bottles? I think it comes down to a personal choice, and depends what you use them for - the plastic ones are lighter and more ideal for sports (such as fitting in bicycle cages or graduations for measuring energy supplements), whilst I think for walking/hiking the metal ones are perhaps sturdier. For day-to-day work and the like then pretty much pick whatever you’re comfortable with. Nalgene certainly have a massive range of styles, shapes and colors from which to choose and see what you like.

The bottles range from $6 and more and are available in many, many different styles and colors from Nalgene.

LetsGoGreen Eco Product Reviews

LetsGoGreen is a business that believe their products can make a positive difference one home at a time. They’re environmentally friendly, and are selected specifically for use in every room in the house.

We were sent a few items to take a look at. Their 100% Recycled Toilet Paper is free of dyes, inks and fragrances and is recycled without chlorine or bleaching. Frankly, as far as I can tell, this was the same as the non-recycled type, so there is absolutely no reason not to switch from the non-recycled type which are cutting down ancient forests. If every home in America changed just one roll for a recycled roll, then it would save a million trees a year.

Another no-brainer is to switch to Ecosafe degradable trash bags. We have the 13-gallon Tall Kitchen Bags. Ecosafe bags are just like regular plastic bags, except that they will totally degrade and compost in 12 to 24 months. They contain an additive called DCP which remains dormant until triggered by sufficient UV light, heat or mechanical stress. The bags leave no toxic or harmful residue.

Finally, I’m getting quite good at looking at reusable bags. Their canvas totes are made in the U.S.A. and are grocery-sized and sturdy. Dimensions are 18″ L x 7″ W x 17.5″ H (with 13″ handles), and carries quite a lot. I actually also use it to carry other reusable bags around in

A four pack of 100% Recycled Toilet Paper is only $2.39 (on sale), Ecosafe kitchen or trash bags start at only $2.99 and the reusable canvas tote $9.99 from LetsGoGreen.biz. Plus they have a 25% off FRIEND discount on!

Marks And Spencer To Charge For Plastic Bags

A quick piece of news for you, the UK’s Marks & Spencer store is to charge for plastic bags beginning May 6th. Until then they are giving out free longer lasting bags. M&S have been heavily criticised for the amount of packaging their food has, and are apparently working on this too. Will this lead to an increase in the sales of dustbin liners?

Much more information can be found on the BBC.

SIGG Aluminum Water Bottle Product Review

The reduction in the use of plastic bottles in our lives is an aim I think most of us share. It’s all too easy to pick up a new plastic bottle of water rather than carrying your own, over 100m in the US alone are ending up in landfills every day. There are a few schools of thought, using aluminum bottles, steel bottles or corn based biodegradable plastic bottles (with or without a water filter). This review looks at one of those choices, a SIGG aluminum water bottle.

It’s an aluminum bottle. That’s pretty much it, it carries about 1 litre of liquid and does a fine job of it. At about 22.5cm (9 inches) in height, not including the cap (more about them in a minute) it’s a decent size to use on a walk, picnic, or gym, and just about fits in an average car cup holder. The bottles are fully recyclable at the end of their, probably long, life.

Who are SIGG? SIGG Switzerland dates back to 1908 when metal processing specialist Ferdinand Sigg established an aluminum product factory about 30 kilometers outside of Zurich. Still manufactured in Switzerland, they’ve been called the world’s toughest water bottles. Available in 144 designs with 22 bottle lids, some of the bottles are also displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. SIGG is also a member of 1% For The Planet - donating 1% of all sales to helping to preserve our environment.

What about leaching? Steel bottles do not usually leach, that is they don’t make the liquid inside taste of metal. Aluminum bottles do, so therefore need a lining, with SIGG’s being a water-based, non-toxic coating that is baked into the interior walls and remains flexible and crack resistant for the life of the bottle. The lining is taste neutral and resistant to fruit acids and energy drinks, and though it is FDA approved it would be nice to know generally what it’s made out of.

How as the bottle? I’ve had the bottle for a couple of weeks and found no problems with it at all. I like the fact it’s tough and I can throw it if I need to without worry. While using a dishwasher is not recommended as due to the small opening it wouldn’t get clean effectively, it seemed fine to me. The paint might eventually wear off though. There are a variety of caps that can be used, the default screw cap isn’t especially friendly, unless you need to attach the bottle to something, the sports caps are much more convenient for day-to-day use. After refrigerating the bottle can be too cold to hold (being metal and all), though they do sell sleeves and rubber handle grips to help.

An extremely quick video is embedded below, frankly after the written review I wasn’t sure what benefits and features I could show you, so I’ll be honest and say it’s not fascinating, but is short!

Starting at $16.99 to $24.99, SIGG bottles are available from from Amazon and through SIGG themselves. For more eco product reviews, please take a look at our Eco Reviews page.

What Does Biodegradable Mean?

Recently several stores, such as Target, have made their plastic gift cards out of biodegradable plastic (despite them costing 3x as much as regular plastic), and Innocent Drinks have tested a 100% biodegradable bottle. But what does biodegradable actually mean?

For something to be biodegradable it has to be a organic substance that can be broken down by microorganisms, a great example being a leaf. In the case of biodegradable plastic, which is usually made from petrochemical compounds, they often use a substance called Mirel which is a corn-based product. They describe biodegradable as “the degradation of material from naturally occurring microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi or algae over a period of time. Source: ASTM“.

For more information, check out the excellent Worldwise biodegradable article.

Where To Find Biodegradable Plastic Bags

I recently had the good fortune to chat with Gavin Hudson from Green Options regarding a post he had written about getting rid of junk. In it he talks about using biodegradable plastic bags in your efforts to clean up where you live and get rid of junk, and I asked him where they’re available from in the UK, and whether not using plastic bags at all is better?

His very interesting answer is below.

“WAIT! BEFORE WE BEGIN, if you’re really looking for a short and sweet answer, I’ll summarize briefly: (1) yes, excitingly enough, biodegradable plastics are available in the UK; (2) for a one-person clean up, plastic bags are light-weight and easy to carry, but biodegradable plastic bags are a greener option; (3) if you’re doing a group clean-up with friends or co-workers, you can sidestep the entire issue of plastics and ‘bioplastics’ by simply bringing large buckets or any other large receptacles with you to the site of the clean-up, filling these with the garbage you find, and then emptying them into the dumpster or trash bin at home.

And now for a more detailed look at our options let’s get on with the show:

Perhaps the most interesting way to procure biodegradable bags in the UK arrived in September of 2006 when retail giant, Tesco, decided to make all of its carrier bags biodegradable. Therefore, if you shop at Tesco, you can get biodegradable bags for free. If you have a way of composting or own a ‘vermiculture’ worm composting bin, biodegradable bags are especially useful in your kitchen for storing compostable food scraps in before taking them to your compost. They also make great bags for picking up litter, as described in the article above.

If you do not shop at Tesco and the local grocery markets in your area don’t sell biodegradable plastic bags, you can also buy biodegradable plastic bags of all sorts online. BioBags is one of the larger retail producers of biodegradable plastic bags for the home. In the UK, you can buy BioBags online at http://www.biobags.co.uk.

You also ask an important question: is it better to use biodegradable plastic bags, or to avoid using bags all together?

My reasoning is that even if you purchase non-biodegradable plastic bags to pick up trash, you will still be doing a good deed. In the past, I have used spare plastic shopping bags to pick up trash from river areas, which protects an unspoiled ecological area by moving garbage to an already heavily impacted landfill. I’ve also used bags that I found along the way; or, on runs, I will sometimes pick up a glass bottle or aluminum can and jog with it to the nearest recycling bin.

As you suggest, it is always good to avoid plastics at any opportunity. I whole-heartedly encourage you to use whatever option is easiest for you when it comes to picking up trash in your area. Buckets and baskets are less convenient to bring on morning jogs, but work very well for an organized trash pick-up day with your friends. (By the way, please forgive my U.S. spellings; we have Daniel Webster to thank for that, but that’s another story.) As mentioned above, you can also use biodegradable plastic bags. Like all things under the sun, these two have positive and negative aspects.

In my opinion, the plus side to using a biodegradable plastic bag is threefold: firstly, if you buy biodegradable plastics, you will be supporting a growing industry with good intentions for the environment; secondly, bags are light and small enough that you can take them with you on any run or walk and use them only if you encounter trash to pick up; lastly, the bag itself is not made with petroleum and, unlike traditional plastics, will biodegrade quickly once it is disposed.

This said, I should give the disclaimer that there are always drawbacks to be found, even with such a wonderful improvement as biodegradable plastics. One of the main issues that comes to mind is that when we put anything biodegradable ”from orange peels to biodegradable plastic bags” in the trash, that item travels to a landfill. It decomposes, which is fantastic, but as it decomposes, it releases small amounts of greenhouse gases. This problem with biodegradable bags (or any biodegradable food item) can be overcome entirely by composting the item. If your city doesn’t have a compost/yard waste collection program in place, you can build a home compost bin or build a worm composting bin. I myself have done the latter, and it’s actually quite a fun little project. A good resource I can recommend personally for learning how to build home composters is Seattle Tilth, which offers information at their website.

I hope that this has been useful.”

Yes it has, thanks Gavin!