Make the switch to stainless steel water bottles

We all grew up on various plastic, Disney drinks flasks at school along with the matching plastic case lunchboxes, but the market has moved on massively since then, and as parents we have a huge variety of designs and materials to choose from for our children, but which is best and crucially, which is safest?

Plastic water bottles

I've long disliked plastic water bottles. Not only does the water that is stored in them taste awful, this in turn makes me very sceptical as to what chemicals are transferring into the water to give it that plasticy taste.

Most of us have now heard of bisphenol A (BPA) and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) even if we don't know exactly what they are; BPA was widely used in the past and still is to a lesser degree along with PET which is still in common use, to make plastic bottles see-through and shatter-proof amongst other things. However, a variety of scientific studies as noted in www.newstatesman.com have now proven that PET and BPA release estrogen-like chemicals which cause lower sperm counts, early menopause in women and low birth weights in babies exposed to the chemical in the womb as well as being linked to developmental and behavioural abnormalities in children. Some studies have even made a link with the chemical and a greater risk of cancer, although this has yet to be conclusively proven. After reading all this, my own approach has been to avoid plastic flasks wherever possible because of the potential risks.


Aluminium water bottles

Initially after moving away from plastic bottles, I moved onto the next option which was aluminium drinks bottles. After a few weeks of use however, I noticed that the flask I'd bought was beginning to corrode (I could feel bubbles and bumps when running my finger along the inside of the bottle's neck). I put it down to a fault with that flask and bought another, but the same thing happened. I took one flask back to a local toy shop, another to Sainsbury's from where I'd bought it. Both were going to investigate and call me back but neither did. A friend I spoke to said she had noticed the same thing happening on one of her daughter's bottles; that was it. I looked into aluminium bottles more and found that aluminum, even in small amounts, has previously been linked to Alzheimers, although that hasn't been proven. You're also not supposed to use aluminium in food grade products so normally these bottles would be lined with plastic, which is therefore little better than a plastic bottle itself and all the associated risks as described above. So, all in all, I decided it was no more aluminium drinks bottles for my family!


Stainless steel water bottles

After striking plastic and aluminium flasks off the list, I looked for non-toxic, non-plastic alternatives, and came across stainless steel drinks flasks which, unlike aluminum, don't need a separate, plastic coating inside them. These bottles were more expensive than all the alternatives (350ml bottles from around £5, 500ml bottles from around £8), but after buying and using one as a test, I found this extra cost was totally worth it.

The benefits of stainless steel bottles over all others, as I see them:

- The water in these flasks actually stays cold, even on very hot days this is the case for several hours.
- They are BPA, PET, PVC, and Phthalate free
- The taste of the water is fantastic; just as when it came from the tap
- There is no known leaching of harmful chemicals into the water
- They are very strong, so will need replacing far less often than plastic or aluminium alternatives

I'm totally sold on stainless steel drinks bottles now and won't ever go back. So far I've tried various brands/websites, but I would recommend the following:

For a familiar, child-friendly style try www.beckyandlolo.co.uk

For maximum strength and durability along with lovely colours look for the stainless steel flasks from www.kleankanteen.com

I love those above, but my children find these bottle lids from One Green Bottle the easiest to use, so I've bought several bottles from www.onegreenbottle.com for that reason