Neat on Suite: Water Bottle Alternatives and X-Treme Commutes

Posted by Marci Hotsenpiller Jun 30, 2008

I’m always seeking stories about who has the neatest commute. Here in Vancouver, we’re surrounded by ocean and a coastal mountain range so it’s conceivable that someone could ski, then bike ride, then kayak, then bus to work each day.

And though few people in Vancouver have an extreme commute, a lot of people look as if they could climb a mountain at a moment’s notice. Part of the commuter supply kit is a water bottle. Up until recently, when the government began working to ban plastics bottles that contain bisphenol A (bpa) in Canada, most people carried a plastic one.

Thankfully, Suite101 writer Bill Sassani gives us the facts in an article on polycarbonate-free water bottles that contain bpa.

Bill holds a Master's degree in Outdoor Education from the University of Northern Colorado and is a certified Wilderness First Responder from the Wilderness Medicine Institute of the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyoming. (This school has branches in different states/countries like Alaska, Mexico, Chile, etc.)

With this kind of background I had to ask him about his own commute to the office:

“I write for Suite101 and my other job is field instructor for a wilderness therapy company in Utah, but I live in Denver, Colorado! It's about a seven hour drive, with lots of time spent on I-70. I generally drive and listen to NPR at the same time or stock up on old shows and music with my Ipod.

The transitions in terrain are cool, from plains to the mountains of Summit County and Eagle County, the Glenwood Canyon, the high desert of Grand Junction and eastern Utah, and ending up in northern Utah. I get a first-hand look at the pine beetle problem that's affecting the lodgepole pine in Colorado and killing the trees. Thankfully, I work eight days in the field, with six days off, so the car stays put for a while.”

With a commute like that, I’m guessing Bill must have a useful alternative to carrying water in bpa plastic bottles:

“Yes, I retired my cool looking multi-colored polycarbonate bottles for my old soft plastic white Nalgenes, which are made from #2 plastic and don't contain bpa.”