Green Tip of the Day: Why BPA-free?

By Mary Rose Roberts
In 2012, ditch the plastic bottles and invest in stainless steel, eco-friendly sports bottles that are BPA-free. I purchased my two-bottle set through the Discovery Channel store, and my husband and I take them everywhere we go. But why choose BPA-free bottles? According to the National Resources Defense Council, BPA, or bisphenol-a, is a chemical used to make polycarbonate—a type of plastic that’s commonly found in clear rigid containers, including baby bottles and reusable water bottles. It also is found in the lining of most canned foods.

Recent research suggests that BPA is toxic to animals and may impact human hormones. According to the Washington Post, a draft report from the U.S. National Toxicology Program expressed concern that BPA could cause behavioral changes in infants and children and trigger the early onset of puberty in females. In fact, in April 2008, the Canadian government banned the use of polycarbonate in infant bottles. It’s almost 2012 and the U.S. still has not followed suit.

Why do I choose to go BPA-free? Because it is a simple way to protect myself from toxins and, truly, it saves me money. I take my water bottle everywhere I go—on road trips, to the gym, out hiking and more. If I bought bottled water, I would use one 365 days a year. At about $1.25 a pop, skipping the plastic bottle saves me about $456.25 annually.

In addition, it is good for the environment. More than 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills and incinerators every day – a total of about 22 billion last year. Six times as many plastic water bottles were thrown away in the U.S. in 2004 as in 1997—and the waste keeps on growing.

A simple solution? Buy a BPA bottle for everyone in your family. Worried your kid will lose it at school? Attach a tag that says, “Please return to if lost.” If someone keeps it, just think of it as paying it forward, as another person will be using it instead of purchasing plastic bottles.

So save money, live non-toxic and be nice to the environment by going BPA-free.