More plastic at the beach

I've been on the hunt for a 0.5-litre bottle for a while. Just a small one that fits into any bag and that I can bring along to the park or a day trip to the big city.

I had two criteria in mind: one, it had to be a stainless steel bottle and two, it had to be pretty (of course). As pretty as the Snow Peak Titanium Aurora Bottle, which even gear-hungry me couldn't find an excuse to spend 150 to 200 Euros on. Especially after I read the reviews about the lid being squeaky.

But sadly, there's nothing comparable out there. Which made me realize I'd rather be thirsty than drink out of an ugly water bottle. (Don't quote me on this when I'm riding up a mountain pass in 40C weather.)

But then thirsty me stopped by the local trekking store on a random lunch break and spotted a 0.5L Nalgene bottle in the most beautiful color combination on the shelf. It was made of plastic, it was inexpensive, so basically everything I didn't want (kidding!).

I'm not an impulsive shopper usually, but I knew this particular combo of size, wide mouth and colors is hard to come by, as I noticed while roaming all the adventure gear stores in Chamonix in May. So I just bought it and ended the months-long hunt for the perfect water bottle.

And it made me realize: I'm fine with drinking out of a plastic bottle. I know there's all kinds of sensible reasons not to do so (microplastics, more plastic in the world), but in this particular case, I've decided it's okay. I bring it everywhere now, it's never too much weight or too big to bring along, and it keeps me hydrated.

Let's pick it up

Speaking of plastic: Ever wondered why nobody picks up plastic at the beach? Or anywhere? I have, until I realized I can just pick it up on the go. And now, the sadness of seeing plastic in a lot of places it shouldn't be has been replaced by me trying to fulfill the task of picking it up.

Which has resulted in me carrying a bunch of trash in my hand for many kilometres, when it's too sandy or sticky (caffeine gels, sigh) to put it in a pocket. I could probably get a special bag for it, but then I would forget it at least half the time, so using my hand until the next trash can pops up actually works well enough. (I skip tissues and anything nasty looking.)

I'm telling you this not to get any applause, but because I'd like to motivate more people to do the same. Wouldn't it be nice if more of us carried these loose bits of plastic, that nobody feels responsible for, to the next trash can? Fewer animals would eat them, there'd be less disintegrating plastic in the soil and waters and the wilderness would look a bit more like the wilderness.

Let's start a micro movement.
One wrapper at a time.
Yes?

See you out there.
Stephanie