Product Review

I've been wanting to review a couple of different green products I've been using but haven't gotten around to it until now.

Over the Christmas break I purchased a stainless steel water bottle to replace the plastic bottles I continually cycled through the dishwasher. In my attempt to reduce production and waste and to save my health (plastic water bottles, including Nalgen's, leak chemicals that have been attributed to cancer after several uses or after exposure to warmer temperatures such as the sun shining on it for any real length of time), I bought one at the local co-op while I was on the coast and take it everywhere with me. It has turned out to be one of the best purchases I have made in a long time. I would highly recommend it for anyone as it makes it so easy to increase water intake and to do so in a healthy way. There is debate about which is the healthiest bottle, stainless steel or glass, but at least I don't have to worry about the stainless breaking. While the one I bought is a knock-off product, the main brand (and with reasonable prices) is Sigg.

I also purchased a reusable coffee filter basket. I had to purchase it online as none of the stores sold one that would fit into a 4 cup outfit. It took a while to get used to it and I have to be really careful when scrapping the used grounds into the garbage (unfortunately no composting options). It filters slightly differently than regular paper filters as it allows more of the natural oils to pass through, thus the coffee in the pot appears darker than before and tastes slightly different as well. And from a frugal standpoint, it's not the best deal as I would have to use it over 1000 times to offset the cost. Since it's partly manufactured out of plastic and not recyclable if it becomes damaged, I also have to wonder which is environmentally worse-the reusable basket or using paper coffee filters? While many options exist, the one I purchased (and got the image from) was from Medelco.