Baby Steps to Producing Less Garbage: The Sigg (or Other Waterbottle)
- Posted by: Casey Caplowe
- on January 13, 2009 at 1:57 pm
This is not a new idea here, but it’s been fairly revolutionary for me, so I thought I’d share:
I emerged from this New Year’s break with the resolve to get into a few pretty tangible resolutions, one of which was to try to cut down on how much trash I produce. I didn’t feel like I had been out of control, I just liked the idea of deliberately making less. Step one for me has been acquiring a Sigg bottle—one of those aluminum and stainless steel bottles that came out of nowhere and were all of a sudden everywhere last year. Well, I didn’t have one, and now I do, and the results for me have been incredible.
I drink more water (and in turn less crap). I spend less money on said crappy drinks. I don’t need to throw away (or even recycle) the bottles and cans from said crappy drinks I’m no longer consuming.
In the first two weeks of the year, I’m guessing I’ve saved about $25 and 10 bottles/cans/styrofoam cups, just because I have this water bottle to refill. If I keep that up, it’s about $650 and 260 containers I’m not spending and trashing this year.
It’s so stupidly simple, but it’s working. The water bottle is now solidly in my phone-wallet-keys check before I head out the door to work in the morning.
If you’re so swayed, here’s the link to buy a Sigg online, or of course, there are other options like U.S.-based Earthlust.
The Sigg in question next to the blog post you’re reading.
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Next up, I’m working on a solution for removing the daily coffee cup (or iced coffee cup) from my bin. Then we’ll see if I can actually figure out a way to make totebags, or something like that, stick with me.
DISCUSSION: 17 Comments
Hmm… first comment didn’t work.Here’s your coffee cup solution: http://www.mocha.uk.com/shop/index.cgi?command=moreinfo&search=DC01
Awesome. Thanks 13strong. I’ll work on that. I already have this one ceramic/paper one for in-office coffee drinking.
“The water bottle is now solidly in my phone-wallet-keys check before I head out the door to work in the morning.”
I think this is the critical component to making the acquisition of a Sigg really correspond to a reduction in trash. I’d be afraid of forgetting it.
That said, clearly worth doing. Thanks for the testimony.
Casey, Glad to hear that you have cottoned onto what many of us Californians have been up to for a while. Some of the coffee (bean junkies) also leave the house with a travel mug, making opting to make their own premium coffees at home from fabulous roasts they purchase in small bulk at farmers’ markets or…they take a travel (think reusable here) mug to their local brewer. You might also like to pick up some stylish re-usable grocery bags to take with you to market. I carry the envirosax shopper with me all of the time. it folds down to the size of a candybar (phone) and is super lightweight. I carry it with me for days when i go to the store while just out running around. check out kleenkanteen for water bottles also, it has a wider mouth and doesn’t get as easily dented. thanks for the written and environmental contribution.best! stinakeep us posted on how things go!
That photo is entirely meta. I’ve always loved the Not A Paper Cup Cup
Don’t forget about the tried and true Nalgene bottle. Those twist on caps will also keep dirt, floor grime, and assorted other bits out off the part where you place your precious lips (which the top closure on a sigg won’t do… Vital if you bottle falls on the subway floor every once and a while like mine does.
The coffee-mug solution can be extremely economical beyond the trash thing, because many places offer a discount for “refills.” I was able to save a quarter a day from a local coffee shop which really adds up over the course of the year.Another sustainable habit I recently discovered was storing leftovers in glass containers as opposed to tupperware. I found that if I left some food to rot and die in plastic tupperware, I would just toss it, but with glassware, I’d be more inclined to dump the contents, wash it out, and reuse the container infinitely. It makes leftovers taste better too, which is always a plus.
at first i thought you meant because you drink more water you crap less. then i realized that you were drinking crap. then i realized that you probably weren’t actually drinking crap. then i submitted this comment.
Personally, I find I’ve never had the need to buy a bottle, re-usable or otherwise. Plenty of juice jugs, ketchup bottles, etc, so no need to sink embodied energy into something I don’t need. Yes, sometimes it looks weird, but it generates good dialogue.
Where can you get that all black sigg bottle? can’t seem to find it online…
As someone else mentioned earlier, you don’t need a fancy Sigg, Kleenkanteen, Nalgene, or whatever to not create waste. Using whatever recycled containers you buy your food in would work just the same. Glass canning jars can be covered and have a similar twist cap feature as the Nalgene. It saddens me to see all this positive “green” popularity turn into another reason to consume consume consume. As for your coffee cup solution, glass jars can also be used. If you are more concerned with being fashionable, then buy a handmade mug from a local potter or a funky vintage mug from a thrift shop.
A pissing contest amongst greenies. I love it. I drink water out of the cured stomach of my family’s deceased dog, Ralphie. No sense in “consuming” further by carrying around my water in a ketchup bottle if I don’t have to. Keep saving that starfish.The Sigg bottle is cool, and it doesn’t start to stink if I don’t wash is for a few days like the Nalgene.
same sigg bottle as I have — although its sitting beside my crappy toshiba laptop. I secretly hope it dies a terrible, non-repairable, death so I can buy a mac
I’m coming really late to this thread and I think it’s great so many people are looking at ways to reduce their waste.I have to agree with the people promoting glass drinking vessels. Sigg has had a big problem with BPA… yes, the aluminum bottle has to be lined with BPA (just like cans in the canned food aisle) to protect you from the aluminum which leeches and tastes strange. Sigg is working on finding another way to line these bottles but hasn’t come up with the answer yet. This is not BPA free… you still get BPA from the grocery store if you buy canned food.
Actually Sigg are independently tested to be BPA free. If you are really worried about it though go with an alternative like Klean Kanteen, they make stainless steel bottles that never see a hint of BPA. My main problem with Sigg bottle is that they usually have dark prints or coloring on them which warms you water if you use them for hiking.
Not to mention that over 80% of plastic bottles are NOT recycled!
I’m loving my new mizu water bottle. Clean looks and styling at a better price. No plastic to leach BPA and other chemicals into my water. Stainless steel so when its beat up after years of use you can just recycle it. Can’t do that with a sigg. Check them out at mizulife.com.