It is Friday and Fridays are for fun. I just got back from New York City. Before I got this wild and crazy idea that I could bring an empty water bottle with me to the airport. I looked up the TSA rules and discovered that passengers are allowed to bring empty water bottles through security. Call me old fashioned but I hate the idea of buying water in one time use bottles but it is everywhere and often bottled water is the only option which is just silly.
I brought my empty water bottle with me and once I got through security I started looking for faucets. There are faucets in the restrooms, but they seem to dispense warm water only. I ended up using a drinking fountain but discovered that I had to tilt the bottle and could only fill it so far before the water starting running right back out. I tried different ways of tilting the bottle and then discovered I could take the cap off and close the drinking hole and use the cap like a cup and catch the water from the fountain and pour it into the bottle.
Several of my friends who travel often did not know that you can take an empty water bottle to the airport and they plan on bringing one next time they fly. Bottled water at airports is expensive. I used my bottle all week long but often had trouble finding places to fill it and people kept offering me bottles of water, sometimes for free and sometimes with food orders. I just kept saying no.
Airports are no different than other places. In general there are not many places a person can fill a water bottle. Plastic bottles account for 13% of our solid waste. San Francisco is considering a ban on bottled water but already people are concerned that instead of drinking water people will drink sugary beverages in plastic bottles.
There probably isn’t anyway to fill a water bottle in San Francisco either. Bottled water is a convenience. Much easier than planning ahead or being thirsty. Sugary beverages in plastic bottles are always an option too.
. . don’t get me started on where those empty recyclable plastic bottles end up. I see them everywhere.
If you want to be a rebel and totally buck the system and cause some friction try bringing an empty water bottle along next time you travel.
