Earthlust Water Canisters Hydrate Sans Waste

Some 2 million tons of plastic water bottles clog our landfills every year, and thousands of tons of global-warming pollution are produced by the shipment of bottled water to U.S. ports. What’s more, a four-year study by the Natural Resources Defense Council found that about one in five brands of bottled water contained at least one chemical contaminant at levels exceeding government limits. If all that isn’t reason enough to break your bottled-water dependence, perhaps vanity will provide the tipping point.

New York City plastic surgeon Matthew Schulman, M.D., who teaches at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, says he is seeing more — and younger — patients in his private practice who are bothered by fine lines around the lips. The cause, he says: bottled water, especially bottles with sports caps. “Drinking from these bottles requires the same kind of puckering as smoking does,” he says. “If you repeat that movement over a few years it can lead to the kind of so-called smoker’s lines you see in women who have a pack-a-day habit.”

Schulman suggests squirting the water into your mouth rather than pursing your lips around the opening. We have a better solution: Earthlust‘s water canisters (from $16), which are made from food-grade stainless steel with an unlined, leach-free interior and a carabiner to snap onto your purse. The bottles are also gorgeous, with minimalist nature-inspired images of butterflies, crows, dragonflies, flowers, owls and shells. Best of all, the opening is (comfortably) wide, so there’s no puckering required.

Tags: Backpacking, Bottle, Bottled water, Business, chemical contaminant, Environmental Issues, food-grade stainless steel, Marketing, Matthew Schulman, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Natural Resources Defense Council, New York City, plastic surgeon, Product management, Recyclable materials, United States, USD