Help! Water Bottle Alternatives

My son has a small sports bottle we got at walmart, it is about 16 oz. I too hate buying the small bottles of water, it feels like i am throwing my money away!

I don't have any alternatives except to look at Target or Walmart for reusable bottles. Walmart has some in the sporting good section for $1 each. They are probably a little bigger than what you want though, but super cheap compared to many that are out there. My 3 kids in school use them. I do get extremely frustrated though because they are constantly misplacing them or leaving them at school. Good luck!

Right now, Walmart is clearancing their stainless steel waterbottles for $2.50-$3.00 depending on the size, BPA free. I love Sigg, but you can't beat this price (especially if your kids have a tendency to lose/forget things). I bought a couple and use them for my baby's diaper bag, so that he always has water to drink when we're out and about. They're actually pretty small - I'm not sure how big, but the smallest is about 8 ounces (they had several sizes). You should check it out.

I love my Camelback water bottle. It comes in two sizes: 16 oz (for my little kids) and 24 oz for me. It is super easy and fast to drink out of, but don't leak. They are available at many sporting goods places, they are available at Sprouts.

My husband's favorite (I like them too) are from Costco. They come in a 3-pack and are also fast and easy to drink out of, but don't leak. I don't have time to screw off lids and screw them back on while I'm chasing my kiddos around.

Get one, or a few, of those BPA free stainless steel water bottles. They have them everywhere, especially with back to school season going on. They have them at Walmart, Target, Michaels craft store, grocery stores, sporting goods stores, department stores and more. They have them in all sorts of colors, patterns, sizes. Your kids can pick out one of their choice with some design they like that will make them want to use it again and again and not forget to bring it home. I have one that has tye dye design on it; my daughter has a purple one; we also have one with a skull on it. They come with different types of openings too. Some have straws, some have twist off tops, some have pull up spouts. There are really a lot of choices out there. We use ours to take to the park, for soccer, cheer, softball practices and games, take to the lake, take to school, take on a road trip. They are good for all types of uses.

Walmart has some decent lightweight "pop up" mouthpiece type waterbottles. They are inexpensive and no larger than a typical bottle of water. Dishwasher safe and easy to grip for when they are doing their sports.

Camelback makes some good wide-necked water bottles too. You can find them at just about any sporting goods store.

We love Kleen Kanteen and Sigg. My nephew and nieces are all involved in several sports and bring their reusable bottles home at the end of the day.

Both Target and Wal-mart had refillable and safe plastic water bottles that were inexpensive. My girls use them for school, they refill them each night and put them in the refrigerator. If you they need one for after school, they could fill it 3/4 of the way and freeze it. Make sure the one they freeze doesn't need a straw :)

We like the Nalgene BPA-free 16 oz bottles - they come in a lot of cool colors so that could help in making them something that your kids *want* to bring home http://www.rei.com/product/784869
http://www.rei.com/product/799014

I have a couple Nalgenes (a brand of hard plastic water bottle, you can find them at Target) that I put in the freezer each day. I fill it about 3/4 full so there's room for the ice to expand, and still leave some open space at the top. Then in the morning before work, I fill it the rest of the way with water, which starts the melting process. Then I have cold water for most of the day at work.

You could also wrap the bottles in foil to keep them cold longer, if the kids are trying to make them stay cold until after school. Perhaps having a type of water bottle that isn't just a throw-away type bottle will encourage them to bring it home again. Tell them to consider it like a thermos.

Or, you could play tough and tell them if they don't bring them home, they won't have any water the next day. They'll just have to find a water fountain at school after practice.

Use a BPA-free plastic bottle or a metal bottle available at sporting goods stores, camping stores, etc. You are right not to buy bottled water - it's so terrible for the environment and it's not nearly as well regulated as the tap water that comes into your home. Plus it's exposed to heat during transport from the source to the store - bad bad bad! Also, re-using the bottles is not good - the plastic breaks down over time. The kids can fill the bottles up at the water fountain during the day.

Tell them they are responsible for the bottles and they can pay for the replacement if they forget it. You'll be surprised how responsible they become. My son did! He's in college now and hasn't lost a bottle yet! He has a couple and I do run them thru the dishwasher now and then. L. L. Bean makes bottles you can have their first names put on if you want. Might be more money than you want to spend but it's an option. That way, if they set them down in the lunch room or at sports practice, they can reclaim them. But a nice black sharpie or a strip of tape with their name on it works too!

I really like the Camelback water bottles. I got one at Sports Authority and they also have them on Amazon in many different colors and 3 different sizes (http://www.amazon.com/CamelBak-BPA-Free-Better-Bottle-Val.... I like them better than the stainless steel ones. I just think the water tastes funny in stainless steel bottles and the one I have cannot be put in the dishwasher. But the Camelbacks are completely dishwasher safe, BPA free, and they really do not leak. Plus you can easily buy replacement parts on Amazon if you lose the straw. Check out Amazon Mom which will give you free 2-day shipping just for telling them you're a Mom (www.amazon.com/mom).

Hi,

I have not read the responses, but I recommend going to Target or Sports Authority and purchasing water bottles. I do this for my kids in their lunch boxes. So far over the past three years, only one didn't make it home! I think that is pretty good.

Hope this helps!

I got mine at flylady.net. They are great stainless steel and you can change the color on the handle so that they know which is which. You can also put a label on it so that if it is left somewhere, it can make its way home. The insulation is really good on these too!

I hated throwing the bottles away - guilt and expense! So, I looked into it. The 2 trendy ones right now are Nalene and stainless steel. If you have an Academy or other sports outfitters, they have some cool ones. You can get the kids favorite sports teams so you can be sure they want to hold on to them. I just bought myself a bright green Nalene one from the grocery store for $4. Stainless steel are a little higher. I fill it half way at night and put it in the freezer without the lid. The next day I fill it the rest of the way up and put the lid on. Throw it in my gym bag and that way I have really cold water for hours.

I love mine from Walmart it is BPA safe semi hard plastic says on bottle reduce reuse recycle comes in different colors they are $4.00 I have 2 of them they don't get thrown away I use them in the freezer too.
Whever you go they have them in the plastic container section or sporting goods look in both areas they are different

Here is the website for Sigg water bottles. They are BPA free.

http://mysigg.com/

We purchased ours at Whole Foods Market.