My awesome DIY and 100% truly plastic-free water bottle!
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Okay guys, so today I’m going to tell you how I pieced together what is, in fact, a truly plastic-free water bottle!
Almost immediately upon receiving my autoimmune thyroid diagnosis in 2021, I vowed to myself that I would figure out a way to bring my water with me… and without it touching any plastic!
Unfortunately, I was unable to find any water bottles for sale, online or locally, that didn’t have some kind of plastic in the lid. While it’s possible there is one out there, I gave up on my search and decided I’d figure out my own truly plastic-free water bottle, thank you very much!
Do keep in mind, this water bottle does have some caveats. It’s not perfect. But, to me, it’s well worth the imperfections, because I just don’t want any plastic near my drinking water!
Okay, now let me show you guys how I threw this one together!
(By the way, if you’re looking for a great way to filter your own water at home, you can check out my post here about my reverse osmosis filter!)
The most universal glass container: A mason jar!
Since I decided to piece together my own truly plastic-free water bottle, I decided to use a container for which I could easily find a lid. And what is more universal than the amazing mason jar? And of course, this means my water “bottle” is really more aptly referred to as a water “jar”, but who cares about semantics, right? 😉
Specifically, for the bottle I decided to go with a quart-sized regular-mouth jar. This size felt like a good amount of water to last me for the better part of a day, and the regular mouth being smaller meant it would be a bit easier to drink from.
The best thing about using a mason jar as my container is that if, by some unfortunate incident, I happen to drop my bottle and break it, all I need to replace is the jar itself, not the whole water bottle. (Unfortunately, this has happened, but only twice in the four years since I’ve been using it!)
Another option for a water bottle that is less breakable is, of course, stainless steel. But I’m not a huge fan of the metallic taste they tend to lend to the water. Everyone is different, though, so you do you!
The hardest part of this quest: Finding a truly plastic-free lid
Okay, so of course finding a truly plastic-free bottle is never the issue, it’s always the lids which tend to have some kind of plastic in there!
Couple this with the fact that many of the silicone gaskets out there are really a silicone-plastic blend (and not pure silicone), and you’ll see just how hard it really is to find a truly plastic-free water bottle!
So, I set out on a quest to find a stainless steel lid with a 100% pure silicone gasket. And these are the lids that I found!
The lids are made from the highest grade of stainless steel (316), and the silicone lids are 100% pure silicone! So they are truly 100% plastic-free!
Unfortunately, anything good usually comes with a caveat, and the downside to these is that they are not as leakproof as the un-pure silicone gaskets out there. This silicone is much more rigid and you really have to tighten the lid to make it leakproof. My solution has become to simply keep my water jar upright whenever I put it down, and I rarely have an issue with it leaking.
But seriously… how cool is it that I never have to worry about plastic touching my water with these amazing lids?!
Keeping my glass jar safer from breakage
The next step to fortifying this amazingly truly plastic-free water bottle was to help mitigate its tendency to break upon impact. While you can never fully protect glass from breaking, I wanted to at least cushion my bottle a bit!
That’s why I was super excited to find these Jar Jackets, designed specifically for mason jars! They claim to be made from plastic-free silicone, though I’m not sure that they’re as pure as the lids we mentioned above. Still, this isn’t as much of a concern since they won’t actually be making contact with your drinking water.
These jackets add a good grip to your jar to make it less likely to fall out of your hand, plus some cushion if the glass does happen to impact a hard surface. It won’t completely protect it from breakage, but it does help.
Making my water bottle portable: Adding a case and handle for carrying
The last step to make this truly plastic-free water bottle perfect was to make it more portable, i.e., add some kind of carrying strap to it.
And this is where my creative mind had to go to work, as there is unfortunately no convenient place to attach anything to mason jars!
I decided to create a complete sleeve for the jar with a handle attached. This was my first attempt… (This was before I got the plastic-free lid and Jar Jacket.)
Unfortunately, though, it didn’t prove to be very durable, despite being made from hemp. If I were to try this design again, I’d go for a much thicker string/cord.
My next design utilized my sewing skills!
I used the sewing technique called shirring (tutorial here) to make a scrunchy and well-fitted fabric, coupled with a cotton string for a strap, plus a cushioned pad around the strap itself for more comfort when carrying.
To avoid accidentally dropping my jar (which I prove to be really good at), I always slip the strap over my hand and onto my forearm when carrying it. This feels like an added layer of protection, as it is much easier to drop something grasped in my fingers compared to something that is strapped around my arm!
Further, now that I just learned how to crochet, I can already feel the ideas brewing in my head about trying to make a crocheted carrying case! And this is likely the best way to do it, honestly, since it’s so easy to crochet circular shapes. I’ll update here if I do end up trying it!
But there you go, three methods to make a great carrying case for your truly plastic-free water bottle!
And there you have it!
A truly plastic-free water bottle/jar! Who would have thought it was possible?!
I love filling up my bottle with my amazing home-filtered reverse-osmosis water, along with some homemade electrolyte powder to keep me hydrated! It’s such a great feeling to know all of my efforts to stay healthy and avoid toxins aren’t going to be thwarted by plastic in my bottle!
Keep in mind, this is just my way of figuring out a plastic-free way to carry around my water when I’m out and about. It doesn’t mean it’s the only way! I hope what you guys take away from this is that creativity wins every time, and if we just think outside the box a tiny bit, we really can come up with clever solutions to problems.
I’d absolutely love to hear what you guys think or if you have come up with ideas for plastic-free water transportation, haha. Please feel free to leave me a comment down below and I’ll definitely get back to you!
Wishing you all as much of a plastic-free life as is possible, and oodles of good health! ♥
