Hi Everyone! I have been reading the comments to Tera’s last post with great interest. Thank you to everyone who has been adding their 2 cents. I love the questioning, the integrity and the intelligence of everyone taking part in this conversation over the past month or so. Your comments have prompted me to make some comments of my own as well…
When I first heard, from a concerned Raw Diva, about the worries of Nalgene (a plastic I had always associated with being safer than other plastics), I was pretty wound up and upset. The last thing I would want to do would be to offer our customers a “dangerous” product!
I immediately started researching the claims and looking into alternatives. After quite a bit of research, what I learned was this:
- The only “safe” vessel for food and drink is glass.
- Heat increases the likelihood of leaching.
- You should replace your bottle every six months or whenever it appears worn.
- When you buy a new bottle wash it out with warm water and a mild detergent and let it dry at room temperature.
- Do not wash your bottle in the dish machine or leave it for prolonged periods in direct sunlight.
- Only use the bottle to carry cold liquids.
- While it is important to keep the bottle clean and bacteria-free, avoid strong detergents and bleach as they can facilitate leaching.
So what’s a diva to do?
After a little thought, I realized how silly it was for me (please note that this my opinion regarding myself, and not a judgement of how you, or anyone else, might feel about the topic) to be worrying about my nalgene jugs, when I often: drink store-bought bottled water, use gladware and other tupperware type containers for storing food and drink in the fridge, eat and drink from restaurant dishes (which are washed in harsh chemicals several times a day), walk on cheap carpeting in our rented townhouse, wear clothes purchased from Walmart on a regular basis, sometimes use non-organic cleaning supplies and soaps, sometimes wear nylon clothing, own plastic flip-flops, wear makeup, colour my hair, sometimes wear drycleaned clothing, use disposable cutlery when eating take out, have wireless internet, use a cellphone, put gas in my car, eat non-organic produce (if you’d like a report I have on the chemicals found in commonly purchased grocery store items, let me know and I will send it to you), use a cordless phone, have electricity in my home, shower in “city” water, use a computer, use a toothbrush, eat at restaurants, go to the dentist, use many organic products packaged in plastics, have painted walls, breathe, and… well, you get the picture…
Basically, modern life is so full of carcinogens, and I thoughtlessly use so many plastics (and most plastics are carcinogenic and hormone altering) and other carcinogens in every day life, my nalgene bottle is just a drop in the ocean. So I will happily use my jug for another few months, and when it’s looking a little worn and possibly falling into “leaching” territory, I’ll get rid of it and carry on with my life… but until I banish all of the other plastics from my life, I’m not going to get so focused on the latest craze. I’d be more worried about buying coconuts or gogi berries from Chinatown, than I am about my 3 nalgene bottles. I will do my best to use them responsibly, and as I eventually weed out some of the more major carcinogens from my life, perhaps I will focus on nalgene again… but until then, I believe my negative thoughts on the topic are more clinically proven to be harmful than the jugs themselves.
I guess it comes down to realizing that the nalgene discovery is just the latest thing – but that doesn’t mean its the worst. In another month or so, they’ll be something new to focus our thoughts on and it will seem worse than everything else.
Perhaps it’s listening to the news that I should really banish from my life!
At the end of the day, the plastic debate is a valid one, but one that you will need to decide on for yourself. If that means you decide not to purchase nalgene products, that is absolutely your choice – but don’t stress about it one way or another, because that could be a lot worse than drinking from your favourite water bottle!
Your thoughts are always of interest, and I respect your opinions – even when they are in opposition to mine, so go ahead and share your impressions and knowledge. You never know who they will inspire or guide to the right decision for them!