When there are water bottles as cute and affordable as these ones from Pottery Barn, there is definitely no reason to keep hanging on to potentially toxic bottles. Find an alternative use for your Nalgene bottles (such as turning it into a solar lantern) and pick one of these up instead.

These 25-ounce Pottery Barn reusable bottles are made from aluminum, eliminating concerns about the possibility of cancer from bottles containing bisphenol A. The screwtop lids are equipped with a carabiner so you can attach the bottle to your work or beach bag for added convenience, plus the bright, vivid design is perfect for summer. But the best part is that they're reasonably priced at just $10, meaning you can pick one up for your significant other (the blue/green design is definitely unisex!), your mom, sister, best friend, child, accountant and anybody else you can think of that you want to protect from harmful chemicals.

Visit Pottery Barn online for more information.

» Pottery Barn (Official Site)

Cindy Crawford is a long-time supporter of the safe water bottles produced by SIGG. Now she's joined forces with SIGG and Pur to raise money for the Children's Safe Drinking Water, a program devoted to solving the problem of water-related diseases in developing countries.

Cindy has designed a special edition "Thirsty for Change" SIGG bottle, of which all proceeds will be donated to Children's Safe Drinking Water. This will provide someone in need with 450 liters of clean drinking water - or in easier to understand terms, enough clean drinking water to last one children seven-and-a-half months! That's a pretty sweet deal considering you'll also be giving yourself the gift of a safe, non-toxic (as in no bisphenol A) water bottle.

Cindy is also promoting Pur's water filtration system, which can supposedly save a consumer $600 a year because it only costs one-tenth of what bottled water does.

So to sum up: You purchase a SIGG bottle and maybe even the PUR filtration system. The money raised from the bottle purchase will supply someone in need with clean drinking water. In return, you'll not only have that warm, fuzzy feeling from doing something good for someone else, you'll also have a safe water bottle to drink from and a new filtration system to provide you with water that can compete with your precious bottled water. Except when you put it in your new bottle, you'll be preventing plastic bottles from ending up in landfills. Sounds like a pretty good deal, no?

Hit the jump to purchase the limited edition "Thirsty for Change" bottle (sorry, no supermodel included with purchase) or learn more about the Thirsty for Change initiative by clicking here.

» SIGG (Official Site)

The last thing this planet needs is any more plastic in the landfills. But what do you do with your old polycarbonate water bottle (Nalgene or similar) that you don't want to use any more? Don't throw it away! With the incredibly handy LightCap200 you can turn your old (or new) bottle into the coolest home, deck, boat or camping lantern anywhere!

Just pull off the old cap and replace it with a safe, bright, environmentally-friendly  solar-powered LED LightCap200 and you'll have light anywhere you want without wasteful batteries, dangerous, toxic fuel, or electric cords.

Put one on your picnic table, deck, out by the BBQ, kids playhouse, bedroom night-light, car safety light, cockpit light on your boat, camper, tent or anywhere else.  Simply fill your bottle with water (even colored water) for a safe lantern that won't run out of fuel or be a fire hazard.  No candles to burn out, and because your bottle is filled with water it won't tip over if the wind picks up.

The built-in light sensor automatically turns the light on whenever it gets dark, and off when there's enough light for charging. Or you can click the water-tight switch and turn it off manually. It weights only 2.6 ounces and you can even use it as a flashlight. The four super-bright, white LEDs provide lots of light without giving off any heat or danger of chemicals in your water.

By adding a LightCap200 cap to your bottle you're not only creating a useful item, you're helping the environment. You can even use your bottle for storage of items like trail snacks, dog treats, fire starting supplies, a first aid kit - anything you want to keep safe, floating and dry.  With the LightCap200 on top, you've always got a useful emergency light.

The LightCap200 is just $19.95 and will last for many years of continuous use. They make a great gift and are available at many fine outdoor stores as well as online.

Hit the jump to visit to purchase your own LightCap200.

» SolLight.com

SIGG wants to encourage young people to make eco-friendly choices and have launched the Make A SIGGnificant Difference (MASD) program for organizations who have shown cooperative efforts to make a positive impact on the environment.

The programs allows schools and organizations who qualify to purchase SIGG bottles at a discount in an effort to spread the message of the harmful effects of 100 million plastic bottles used by Americans every day that end up in landfills. And with recent evidence that bottles made from polycarbonate plastic can pose potential health risks to those using them, this program couldn't have been introduced at a more appropriate time.

Initiatives taken on by these organization include a "pyramid of wate" fundraiser where students collected over 500 discarded plastic bottles to build the pyramid and then sold reusable water bottles, raising $1,000, as well as awareness on the topic of plastic waste. One parent concerned about the possibility of leaching helped organize water stations in her child's school which students could visit to fill SIGG bottles. As she sees it, “We all survived very well before bottled water came into vogue,” said Reilly. “With the help of SIGG bottles, we can drastically reduce the waste from the billions of plastic bottles while still drinking clean, safe water.”

To find out how you can take part in this program, hit the jump to vist the official SIGG site or email besiggnificant@sigg.com.

» SIGG (Official Site)

Last week I suggested you ensure your children are drinking from safe water bottles and introduced the fantastic line of kid-themed water bottles by SIGG. As it turns out, I just learned that Mr. Pinky Bean recently purchased his first SIGG bottle and he absolutely loves it. In fact, I think he may give my side of the bed to the water bottle and make me sleep on the porch.

The point (other than my new sleeping arrangements) is, I realized I wrote about the great bottle options for kids and completely neglected to mention that SIGG makes a diverse range of designs for adults too! The company will celebrate 100 years in business in 2008 and have added several new products in celebration of this milestone. The Hot & Cool Bottles function exactly as the name would suggest. Stainless steel, double wall vacuum insulations keeps hot drinks warm for two hours and cool beverages cool for four hours.

The Vintage collection offers a throwback to the classic SIGG bottle with its sleep design and swing top. Meanwhile, the Message in a Bottle collection allows users to make their eco affection known with statements such as "Make Love Not Landfull" and "Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink From Plastic" adorning the exterior of the bottles.

The quality of SIGG bottles will remain unchanged. A water-based, non-toxic coating is stilll baked onto the interior walls to ensure strength and resist cracking, as well as providing the ability to resist retaining the taste fruit acid and energy drinks left in many other bottles. A single piece of aluminum provides the signature seamless exterior of SIGG bottles. And most importantly, despite recalls of polycarbonate plastic bottles, SIGG bottles still exceed FDA requirements with 0.0 per cent leaching. 

Hit the jump to take a peek SIGG's many designs and order your new bottle.

» SIGG (Official Site)

Back in December, I wrote about the voluntary ban of plastic water bottles by retailers like Mountain Equipment Co-op and Patagonia. In case you haven't yet heard, plastic bottles such as those created and sold by Nalgene, are made polycarbonate plastic. This plastic includes bisphenol A, currently under review because of its link to an increased risk of cancer. In that original post I suggested switching to a stainless steel water bottle and provided an example.

When I stumbled upon the SIGG website today though, I realized that the thought hadn't even occured to me that children may be drinking from plastic bottles. Usually when I see someone with a reusable bottle attached to their hand, it's an adult. However, I was easily able to envision the number of children I see carting around those plastic sippy cups. So far, I haven't seen any recalls or bans on the materials these cups are made from, however to play it safe, consider one of these adorable options from SIGG (Swiss Engineered Water Bottles).

All of these bottles exceed FDA requirements and have tested at 0.0 per cent for leaching, making them safe to drink from. The bottles are produced in an eco-friendly environment are are completely recyclable. These bottles are guaranteed not to break (the company claims they are virtually unbreakable) or leak (the mass appeal of the sippy cup is its ability to prevent spills). Even better, they can go in the dishwasher and are non-toxic. I'm not sure if this is a selling point, but apparently Madonna and Cindy Crawford are big fans of SIGG bottles.

There are 22 interchangeable lids available and each design - sure to appeal to the young members of your family - is cuter than the next. Visit SIGG's website to view the kid and eco-friendly designs.

» SIGG (Official Site)