Ideal Bite

If you live in a area with great tap-water, as I do, you don't even need a filter. Then you can give that money to organisations who works for fresh water for everyone.

What about fluoride? I understand that filters don't remove it when cities add it to drinking water and that middle-aged women who tend toward osteoporosis should avoid it, particularly when we're trying to be healthy and drink our 64 ounces of water a day. I did switch to spring water in gallon containers instead of 24-ounce bottles though.

I heard that "2.5 million-bottles-of-water-an-hour" statistic on the Live Earth coverage over the weekend. That totally floored me! My Nalgene comes with me everywhere - sometimes filled with beverages other than water ;) especially if i'm going to a show - but, I think it's time for a Biter Bottle! At home, the Brita is the best! Although it makes me sad when I have to throw the filter out - creating more waste... hmmm I may have to rethink Brita. Don't mind me... just thinking out loud :)

Well those filters are not biodegradable and usually have plastic packaging/holders that can't be recycled. What about this ceramic filtered water crock from Gaiam? The filter housing holds charcoal and there's no plastic packaging/holder to dispose of. I'm thinking about getting this one, although the price tag is pretty hefty. Does anyone have this? What do you think? http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product/01-0465 For a review of the ceramic filter, see: http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2007/06/27/H2O_filters/index.html?source...

It is a myth that bottled water is "cleaner" than most tap water (water from municipal systems). Municipal systems must be tested by independent laboratories and follow EPA standards while private bottling companies can test their own water and follow FDA standards. For the most part the EPA and FDA standards are similar, but the EPA is a little more strict. On top of this, think about all of the plastic bottles. Home filters are definately a better option if you need to filter more.

Not only the waste involved in bottled water has my attention now, but I recently had one of my Missoula friends visit and she was chugging out of a suspicious mason jar. "Drinking a little moonshine there Angel?" I asked, she said no, that she ditched the Nalgene bottle after a discussion on PVC and opted for the glass, she likes that you can see that it's clean and that we have them everywhere. So if it is just a bit o H2O you need and you arent out climbing rocks (broken glass is no fun) this may be an easy, head turning, alternate to buying the bottle.

Ester I'm not sure where you live, but I recently moved back to Chicago from Los Angeles (where the tap water smells like feet and tastes even worse) and love drinking straight from the tap. We even removed the filter from the Brita pitcher for our chilled supply in the fridge. Chicago has great water which (in my opinion, but shared by everyone I know) is superior to bottled. Evian tastes like greasy dirt to me, and the bottles of Nestle contain sulfites as preservatives (?) and cause an alergic reaction similar to when I drink domestic wine. So that is a deffinate no-no.

thanks raychelle for the link to the ceramic crock. i've been tempted to purchase something like this, but as you said, the price tag is a bit hefty for me at the moment. i may go for a faucet filter or something like that. our tap water isn't so bad, but to me the Brita water tastes really good. i've also heard about the PVC issue with Nalgene bottles. i definitely keep mine probably a little longer than i should. i'll have to look into other portable water devices. thanks for the great suggestions everyone!

I love tap water, but we moved to a new town about 2 years ago and have had to add a water softener because the hard water was destroying our appliances. There is NO WAY I am going to drink water softened water. It tastes AWFUL. Any suggestions?

I refill 5 gallon bottles at Dillion's for $0.39 a gallon. I *think* it comes out to about $80 per year, whereas if you buy bottled water every day it can come out to over $1,000 a year.