Choosing to give my daughter a stainless steel water bottle for drinking is part of my overall effort to go green. Sometime in 2007, people started to get worried because it came to light that many plastic drinking bottles were "leaching" and a chemical called BPA had the ability to get into people's food and drinks from the plastic. BPA mimics estrogen and can interfere with hormone levels. The study also showed that those who were exposed to high levels of BPA were at a higher risk to get things like breast cancer, prostrate cancer, and uterine fibroids.

That's a little scary, but for me, the biggest draw to the stainless steel water bottle was figuring out just how many plastic bottles my family was going through every day. I tried to reuse them, but that didn't always work out and since we live in the warm climate that is Hawaii, we constantly have water with us.

The change to stainless steel water bottles has been well worth it for my family. The price slowed me down, but only a little. Costing anywhere from $12 - $24, it seemed a little high for a water bottle. When I realized what I'd save on all those plastic bottles, it seemed well worth it. When I factored in the health risks associated with plastic and BPA and the amount of plastic that we'd be keeping out of landfills, it seemed downright cheap.

These cool water bottles come in all different sizes and colors. I'm happy to report that my daughter, who typically loses everything within days, thinks hers looks so cool that she's managed to hold on to it for 7 whole months.

You can check out some of the styles available at Amazon.