How To Save Money, Help The Environment, And Look Cute As Hell

By Lauren Ver Hage Thursday, February 19, 2015

~*Hobbles up onto my environment soap box*~

As smart young financially savvy women, we have the power to cultivate real change for the good of the environment AND our wallets. Over the course of our lifetime, each of us has the power to choose how we will spend our hard-earned money and the degree to which we value the health of our planet.

Eliminating the purchase of bottled water and the use of plastic bags from our daily lives is one of the easiest ways to save money and do the planet good. It’s our job to make an intelligent decision between the size of our wallet/health of the planet versus the daily $3 bottle of water we purchase with our lunch, on the way to the gym or alongside our morning coffee. That money adds up to serious cash. According to the “Band The Bottle” Campaign, “The recommended eight glasses of water a day, at U.S. tap rates equals about $.49 per year; that same amount of bottled water is about $1,400.” $1,400, for what? Water. In a plastic container.

Tap water is one of those precious resources that is made cheap, clean and conveniently available to you in this country, and is something that you should not be paying to purchase in individualized portions with high markups. NYC and surrounding areas have some of the best water in the country, and is actually brought down from upstate reservoirs and mountains. According to a recent study, “U.S. landfills are overflowing with 2 million tons of discarded water bottles alone,” (other horrifying facts here) and we can do something about it.

If the readers of this website alone each made a conscious effort to eliminate them from our daily lives OR AT LEAST recycle them when we do absolutely need to use them, we could make a significant impact for the better. Water bottles aside, if you live in NYC, the plastic bags floating around the subway and streets couldn’t be more concrete evidence that there is an unforgivable amount of wasted bags used each year. 100 billion a year, in the US alone, to be precise.

So what’s the solution? Reusable Water Bottles + Tote Bags. Every girl knows that as we hit the pavement each morning to conquer the world, despite wanting to make a conscience effort to reduce our use of plastic water bottles and bags, we still want to look ~fLy~.

SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I bring you 5 of the most stylish and functional reusable water bottle and tote bag pairings. All BPA free and good for the planet, as you can literally reuse them thousands of times with proper cleaning and care.