The One Simple Thing That Made A Huge Difference

In my household, I do the grocery shopping.  With a family of 5, it is quite an undertaking.  My three kids seem to change their mind every few weeks on what snacks they want or on what sounds good for breakfast.  And even though the demands for their favorite grocery items changed, one thing did not.  They all wanted me to make sure I got water!  We weren’t big fans of drinking tap water straight from the faucet and it wasn’t as convenient as grabbing a bottle of water and heading off to work or school.  So one thing that I always loaded at the bottom of my shopping cart was a gigantic case of 40 water bottles.   Sometimes I grabbed two cases just to make sure we didn’t run out too soon.

This post is sponsored by Brita but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Over time, I would find water bottles all over the house.  Some were empty and some were half full.  I found them on the back porch, in my van and even in the bathroom.  We drank so much bottled water, that we would have a trash bag full of them ready to be recycled before the week was over.

Now, I wouldn’t say we are as an environmentally conscious family as some others. But we knew that we could do something about reducing the amount of plastic we wasted as a family.

We recently discovered a real game-changer and it’s the reason why we will never use a plastic water bottle again.  It is the Brita Filtering Bottle.  We love it and the best part is that it replaces up to 1,800 plastic water bottles a year.  That’s 9,000 for a family of five.  Now, we have practically no plastic water bottles in our house.  Brita is the reason why we quit using water bottles.  This was one simple thing that made a huge difference in helping our environment.  It was our simple swap for a sustainable future.

Our kids think it is so cool that there is a straw inside that is actually the filter.  So it filters as you drink through the straw.  The unique stainless steel design has double-wall insulation that keeps the water cold for up to 24 hours.  It is very cup holder friendly and comes with a replaceable filter which reduces chlorine taste and odor.  So now we fill up our Brita Filtering Bottles and head out for the day.  If we’re at soccer practice or just a day at the park, we can refill anytime and have great tasting water anywhere without the waste.

Just to put it into perspective the effects of plastic water bottles has on our environment, here are some stunning facts:

1. Plastic water bottles take 450 years to decompose.

2. We spend $13 billion on bottled water each year.

3. Enough plastic to fill a dump truck ends up in oceans every minute.

4. 2,000 plastic water bottles are used every second in the U.S.

5. 70% of plastic bottles are not recycled.

6. By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean.

We have been on vacations as a family and seen first hand the effects that plastic is having particularly with sea life in the ocean.  It feels so good to know that one simple change like getting a Brita Filtering Bottle can play a part in helping our environment. 

Ultimately, our swap for sustainability will have a lasting effect on our kids and they will continue this on when they have families of their own.  I hope it inspires you to do the same.

Here’s something to think about.  What sustainable swap could you make as a family?