Stash this collapsible water bottle in your pocket and turn back to the tap

Ohyo collapsible water bottles
© Ohyo

It's time we made water bottles part of our every day carry (EDC) gear, just like our keys and our phone. This handy little bottle squishes down small enough to go everywhere you do.

It's great that we're a lot more conscious of drinking water these days, and not just sodas and coffee and sports drinks, but that water consumption comes at a pretty hefty environmental cost, at least if we buy bottled water all the time. It's estimated that getting one liter of bottled drinking water into our hands requires seven liters of water and a quarter liter of oil, so there are a huge amount of wasted resources tied up in our bottled water habit, as well as an enormous plastic trash problem from all of those bottles and packaging.

It's quite silly to my way of thinking, as while there may be some appropriate times and locations for bottled water (emergency relief, sporting events, caching and reserves for if/when the SHTF), the majority of the time we can do just fine without it. After all, water is a basic human need, and we know we'll be thirsty at some points during the day, every day of our lives, so why would we NOT have a water bottle with us all the time, just as we wouldn't ever forget to have our keys or our phones or our wallets with us?

In addition to having a container for our water, we can also turn back to the tap and away from the fancy bottled water advertising. If you live in a modern city with an appropriate water treatment and delivery infrastructure, the water that comes out of your tap may be exactly the same as that in the bottles at the corner store, except at a huge markup in price. By choosing to refill your bottles and cups from the tap or a water fountain, instead of buying bottled water, it's not only much cheaper, but it's also more convenient and easy to drink more water.

But the one big issue with carrying your own water bottle is lack of space in your bag or your pocket, and cramming a water bottle in there, especially when empty, might not seem so important when you leave the house, even if you know you'll want it later.

A new reusable plastic water bottle could help change that, by collapsing down to a size that makes it easy to put in your pocket, purse, or bag, so you'll always have it with you. The Ohyo water bottle, which is made from LDPE, (which is said to be 'toxin-free') is built to be able to be squished 10,000 times, to stand up to the dishwasher, and can be shrunk to a fraction of its size for storage. The wide mouth of the bottle allows for easier cleaning, and a built-in straw for easier drinking on the go.

The current Ohyo Collapsabottle only holds 500ml, which doesn't seem like very much water to me (says the guy with a 40 oz water bottle) but a Kickstarter campaign is in the works to put a 1 liter bottle into production for wider appeal in the US and in the sporting gear market.

Along with the Ohyo, an app called Find-a-Fountain can be used to locate the nearest place to fill up your water bottle, which can go a long way toward kicking the bottled water habit.

If you'd like more information about the larger version, see Ohyo's campaign page, or to order one of the current bottles (available singly or packs of 10, and in several colors), visit the website.

(If you need a collapsible coffee cup instead of a water bottle, it's over here.)

Tags: Drinking Water | Plastics


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