11 Dec, 2007
How to spend $90.03 on three water bottles
Posted by andrea tomkins in: Oh! Things!|Yaktivism
So, MEC is finally pulling their Nalgene bottles off their shelves.
I say finally, because this issue is one I’ve been wondering about. MEC is one of the most environmentally-friendly companies around. The Westboro store, for example, was built in a super eco-fashion. It was built on the foundation of a former grocery store (the Hong Kong Market), the building has straw bale and shredded newspaper stuffed in the walls, walls made of salvaged timber, there’s a cistern to catch rainwater … and that’s just the scratching the surface. The building is a model for corporate architecture everywhere, so why were they still selling Nalgene bottles? It just didnt make sense.
So when the stories about bad bits of plastic (specifically, bisphenol-A, which is derived from petrochemicals and is said to mimic estrogen ) leaching into the water started coming out I seriously questioned how MEC, of all outfits, could continue stocking their shelves with them.
I was in the store a couple weeks ago and there were hundreds of these bottles lining the shelves. I guess they’re gone now. Yay! A retailer this size takes this kind of action, it’s got to have a domino effect.
We’d been using Nalgene bottles for quite some time. We were using them regularly while we camped, and practically every day during the summer. Instead of buying single-use bottles we just filled our Nalgene at the tap. I have decent tap water, so why buy cases of water at the store (Seriously, I see people at the checkout buying cases of water and I despair for our poor planet.)
So I bought our family some non-plastic water bottles. I bought the first one at MEC. It was $9.00. It was okay, but wasn’t working for me at the gym. Because of the wide neck I was always splashing water on myself, and my hands were always too shaky to screw the top back on right.
I was doing some shopping-released research for an article I was working on and I was led to Fab Baby Gear on Wellington (near Three Tarts). They carry a Sigg line of seamless leakproof (and lined) aluminum bottles. I bought three, one for me, two for the girls who, coincidently, were having tummy troubles related to the fact they weren`t drinking enough water. I figured this was money well-spent. Not only was it Bis-A free, but hopefully their fun designs would make it cool to drink water again.
My bottle is larger, the design is called Fantasy – and I love it.
I bought Emma the pink bottle with little cat, and Sarah got the blue one with the little dog pictured here
All is well, right? Well, how should a parent react when a child says they’ve lost their $30 water bottle?
My reaction, a winning combo of disappointment, tinged with anger with a bonus guilt trip.
“I guess we shouldn’t have spent that much money on a water bottle for you.”
The words were already out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying. Ugh. I swore I would never do this to my kids. I’ve experienced my share of the guilt trip, and it wasn’t appreciated then, nor is it appreciated now that I’m older.
But I’m torn.
1) They should know how to take care of their things, right?
2) It was misplaced by accident. That can happen to any of us, right?
What I should have said: “That water bottle was really expensive. And I’m sad that it got lost, as I’m sure you are. If you want another one like it you’re going to have to chip in for half. Otherwise you’ll have to just get your water from the drinking fountain like before.”
In the end, the water bottle was discovered at the bottom of a bag containing library books.
