5 Great Reasons to Carry a Water Bottle

The reefs are dying, the Amazon is burning, and the ocean has more plastic than fish in it. Time to give up? No way, man! There's a lot that you can do to fix our little blue dot, and it's not all high-level, super-hard stuff. In fact, I'm here to tell you that green living is better. It's more fun. It's cleaner. And it can start small.

Give yourself a simple gift today: the gift of a water bottle. Unless you live in a place where the municipal water supply has been neglected and you can't afford a filter pitcher, you'll almost definitely benefit from going canteen. Here's why.

1. Your water, your way

Let's face it: some water doesn't taste great. I include bottled water in this estimation, since most of it just comes out of whatever random spring Nestle has recently laid claim to. Not that it's bad water, but it's also not special. Then, of course, there's the pesky problem of microplastics.

On the other hand, your bottled water can be any kind of water that you like. Do you prefer your home tap? Fill up before you go! Filtered? Fill it from the fridge! You can also make tea, lemonade, cucumber water, and even seltzer at home and have your very own signature recipe on hand wherever you go.

2. Style, baby

Even if you decide not to jazz up your water bottle with band stickers and decals, there are a ton of attractive options to choose from. Gradients, cartoons, and good old-fashioned transparent designs are all at your fingertips. Think of it as a fashion accessory that's also useful.

Your water bottle could also say a lot about you as a person. Are you a handles kind of gal, or are you a guy who likes a nice solid canteen? You could go genuine military surplus or double-walled space-age thermos. Talk about a conversation opener! Speaking of which...

3. Get some attention

Water bottlers are a tribe. It's perfectly acceptable to recognize one another with a nod, but it's not unheard of for people to compare the finer points and benefits of their particular brand. Let's face it: pre-bottled waters all look exactly the same. There's nothing to talk about there. But a water bottle you picked yourself? People are going to want to know. This might just be your opening with that good-looking coworker or prickly boss!

4. Low-maintenance

Recycling really isn't all it's cracked up to be. Plastic doesn't ever really go away, and that's never truer than when you have to empty out your home recycling bin. What a pain! One case of disposable water bottles can overwhelm a bin by itself. Then you have to return them, which is annoying and time-consuming, or drag them out to the curb, where they spill all over the road.

If you substitute that never-ending pile of single-use plastic water bottles with one snappy canteen, you instantly cut down on the amount of work you have to do.

5. More money and an easy mind

Every time you see a news piece about microplastics, your stress level ticks up a little. Images of oceans choked with crap make your blood pressure rise just a titch. You may not even be completely aware of it, but you're probably suffering more from awareness of pointless plastic waste than you are from their many health detriments. And you're paying for the privilege! Who are those big companies to irresponsibly push one-time bottles into your hands as though there's no other option (By the way, those companies are bullies who often take available water whether or not people want them to. They suck.)?

Most municipal water is super safe. That's not universal—goodness knows there are some heartbreaking horror stories—but if you're an average American, you've probably got pretty good drinking water. Don't hand over money so that you can worry about unsustainable discard capitalism. Instead, get yourself green in this one small way. You'll feel better, and who knows? When your grandchildren ask how you saved the planet, you might be able to tell them that this was your first step.