If you've come to my yoga class at all in the past few months, you've probably seen me drinking out of a yogourt container. I am trying to make a statement. It has a few parts. One is, I'm lazy and I lose things. So the truth is, I've had fancy water bottles in the past, but I have misplaced them. I also used to drink bottled water back before I really thought about what I was doing. Now that I've got some sense in me, I drink tap water, and I drink it in whatever appropriate container I have handy.
I've tried a few different containers but some have a rim that dribbles and the best one I've got is a Liberté Yogourt container. It's 500 ml, so it holds enough, or if I'm doing hot yoga, I can run out and refill it. If I lose it, I can get another one easily.
It doesn't make sense to me that YOGA would go unconscious. Yoga is heading towards consciousness, towards the light, not heading backwards. So for yoga centres to even sell bottled water seems to me a bit off. I've been saying for a while, why don't we offer cups and people could use the tap? I even had a "great idea" recently that I'd collect yogourt containers and Rama Lotus could sell them at the cash for two bucks and the money would go to the Shepherds of Good Hope or something. But what if they're dirty? (People going into hot yoga are sweating on each other's mats on a gross carpet in many cases, these are not the people that are going to worry about having a cup be sterile.) I figured people could still buy bottled water if they wanted to so it's not like people are being forced into drinking out of a reclaimed container of dubious origin.
And then I looked into biodegradable drinking cups. We could sell those for two bucks and have the money go to charity. The brand I looked at didn't have lids though.
So I'm back to my yogourt containers. I'm going to bring extras with me to class. I'm going to sell them for ten bucks and give the money to charity (Shepherds of Good Hope) and I'm hoping to raise awareness that this bottled water thing is out of control and would people please use some common sense and be grateful for the tap water system we've spent many years developing. I want it to look good to reuse something. I know those metal bottles are awesome but after awhile they go stinky. They're too narrow at the top to really wash out.
And I've already been exposed to the plastic in the yogourt container. The amount that it is going to leech into my water while I'm waiting to drink it over a 90-minute period I would guess is probably negligible. I've already risked it by eating up all the yogourt. So I've already said I'm ready to take a risk.
So please just give it some thought. $30 water bottles. Hmm. They look cool and they're totally useful. And if you can keep track of them, please keep reusing them! Once you've lost it for good, consider looking around at something you've already got and put water in that rather than buy bottled water. In Ottawa. If you're travelling abroad, drink bottled water. Please. But if you're local, and you're not ill, and you trust the system we've got, please don't worry about how it will look to drink out of an alternative container. You'll be in good company!
7 comments:
Spegetti Mason jars work really well. Good lids TOO. We use them at home as glasses and for yoga class. And it's GLASS...no leakage of plastic
I agree with you about plastic bottles. On top of being environmentally unfriendly, water that comes from bottled water (including the large 19L containers) tends to be quite acidic - based on the testing and research that I've done.
I'm not a big fan of drinking out of plastic in general...and the cheapear plastics can't be cleaned as they release toxins when heated. I tend to drink out of glass containers at home...and opt for stainless steel bottles when I'm on the go.
p.s. On a side note - if you purchased any Nalgene bottles from MEC that aren't BPA free you can take them back for a store credit - you don't even need a receipt as they have a record of the purchases on file. I brought a bunch back and ended up with $55 in credit.
I drink out of glass at home, too. The thing with this particular yoga centre is they don't allow glass containers in class because of people being barefoot and concern about cut feet, which has happened there. I know other centres don't mind. So I guess if you glass is permitted, that would be best.
Thanks for the tip, Tim, about MEC bottles! I still think for the few minutes cold water is in the container that I've already eaten out of I'm not increasing my risk by much. If I wanted to reduce the plastic consumption altogether that would be a way to go - they sell yogourt in glass and I could just make my own :)
Jamine - thanks so much for posting this. I had a very similar conversation with some friends a couple of months back. We noticed a lot of people purchasing bottled water - sometimes several a day. Why can't all of the studios have a water cooler - I know a lot do. This encourages a "bring your own" attitude. I don't lose things and never leave home without my water bottle - it just makes sense.
Om
P.S. I too like mason jars, and in a pinch will grab one of those.
The metal water bottles are on sale everywhere these days and don't cost anywhere near $30 anymore. You can clean them easily with a baby bottle brush and they're almost indestructible. I love my metal water bottle -- although the water ends up tasting a bit metally after a while. I may need a new one, come to think of it. (For the record, I would NOT drink out of an old plastic yoghurt container or do yoga on any mat other than my own)
*Smiles* I visit clients all day at their homes and just started giggling when I pictured all the weird conversations I would inspire when I came in carrying a yogurt container full of water. Like my Alzheimer's patients aren't already a little confused. I love the idea, but because I'm in and out of houses, my car and the office and like to have water on hand at all times I'm going to have to stick with the metal containers for myself.
On that note Loblaws sells stainless steal water bottle for under 10$. They have wide mouths so you can clean the insides with less trouble. I bought three and just when I lose one I always seem to find the other one I lost a month ago. I've actually lost and found these water bottles at least ten times, probably because they're under 10$. Someone bought me an expensive one once and it went missing in a week, never to return. But if I ever forget my bottle when I come to yoga I'll be looking for you and your yogurt containers Jamine.
Guess I'll have to come up with more metal bottles. I keep losing them is the thing!
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