Good for The Planet, Good for Your Vacay!
One of the things that keeps me up at night is the thought of plastic in our bodies of water. From the islands of plastic in the oceans to the microplastics found in our sea salt supply, I shudder when I think of this pollution.
Because plastic is found in everything and everywhere, I feel the best approach to reducing our consumption of plastic is through baby steps. For example, instead of using ziplock bags, I use these compostable BioBags and these compostable Lunchskin paper bags.
We recently went on a trip to the beach and I was wondering how to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles we would consume. When we go on trips, I usually buy at least 5 bottles of water per day. Considering that plastic is not as easy to recycle as we would like to believe, it really adds up. How could I get good filtered water and the convenience of a portable bottle while travelling? I found the solution in the Aquagear water pitcher (and good old S’well bottles!
S’well bottles are self-explanatory. They are plastic-free and reusable. I brought one for each of my family members. I washed them every night to have them ready for the next day.
I settled on the Aquagear after a bit of research. I wanted something that filtered out fluoride, lead, chromium 6, chloramines, mercury, and chlorine among other contaminants, pesticides and trace pharmaceuticals found in municipal water. I also needed it to be able to fill four S’well bottles easily and to be portable. Aquagear is one of the very few water pitchers on the market that takes care of these elements, has a good capacity and is portable!
We have gone on two trips with our Aquagear. The first was the aforementioned trip to the beach. We stored the Aquagear in the mini fridge at the hotel and were happy to have clean, delicious-tasting, cold water in our room at all times. The second time was when we visited my sister in law in upstate New York.
I am sure we saved at least 50 bottles of water between these two trips. Even better, we didn’t ingest estrogenic-chemicals leached from plastic water bottles. But the very best part of this new arrangement was that I didn’t have to worry about buying bottles of water! I usually look for a convenience store or supermarket as soon as I arrive at a new location in order to buy water. If I am running low, I kind of freak out. When I reach New York, I go to the store even though we have come off a long car trip. Having the water pitcher with me meant I could just fill it up in both cases and get on with my vacation! That’s what I call a trip win: win for the planet, our bodies and my vacation time!