Something Glass: Cold Water, Cold Juice

I am an avid lover of portion control--portion control snacks, portion control juice boxes, portion control ice cream. But portion control is very wasteful. Consumer packaging is taking all sorts of green renovations, and I know that I need to research it more. One interesting fact that I discovered here is that sales for concentrated liquids--mostly cleaning supplies--went up 400% in 2008.

You know what else comes concentrated? Juice. I know. I already wrote about it. But I am writing again. I don't drink that much juice, but I do drink a lot of water. And I like my water cold. Solution? Besides my insulated mug that keeps my drinks cold at the pool and softball games, I've discovered glass bottles at the grocery store.

These glass bottles are a bit more expensive than juice boxes, but they are a one-time investment. They clean well with soap and water. And they will clean even more wonderfully when we get a dishwasher! There is always cold juice or water in the fridge, and the glass bottles are perfect for packing in a cooler. So for all of you that are filling the fridge and your coolers with plastic bottles this summer, why not give the glass ones a try? I know they are a bit smaller, and I know they are breakable. But the glass is pretty thick, and we haven't broken any yet.

I use the glass apple juice bottles found in the juice aisle at Dierbergs in St. Louis and the glass club soda and ginger ale bottles found in the liquor section at most grocery stores. I have five total for juice, and eight total for water at the moment. And I've even invested in a few glass bottles with cold coffee drinks to use for my smoothies on the go--they are the perfect size and shape for shaking.

Ahhh. Re-freshing.