The Battle of the Water Bottles: What are the healthiest water bottles on the market?

It's pretty easy to feel like a sucker when you throw down three to twelve C-notes a year for bottled water, only to learn that about 44 percent of all bottled water comes straight from the tap, including PepsiCo's Aquafina, Nestle's Pure Life, and Coca Cola's Dasani.

And it's pretty easy to feel duped when you find out that according to the National Resources Defense Council, which performed independent testing on over a thousand bottles of water, bottled water is typically neither cleaner nor safer than tap water, and that in fact, the EPA standards for tap water are far higher than the FDA's standards for bottled water, which don't include mandatory reporting of violations, require far fewer bacteria tests, and don't carry disinfection or filtration requirements.

And it's pretty easy to feel a little guilty when you discover the fact that Americans use around 50 billion ( billion, with a "b"!) water bottles a year, and that only 23 percent of those are recycled after they're used exactly once.

But what really takes the cake is that not only are we spending scads of our hard-earned dollars on a product that's readily available in our homes, and practically for free, but fill a water bottle a quarter of the way up with crude oil, and that's how much oil it takes to produce that one bottle, to the tune of 17 million barrels a year for all of the bottles in the U.S. Now, fill that same bottle up with water three times, and pour it back out. See that? That's how much water it takes to produce that bottle, which, 67 percent of the time, will be tossed into the landfill, where it will lay until it biodegrades in... oh, around 450 years.

Rise Up and Revolt!

Folks, it's time for us to get over the whole bottled water thing. Let's each procure for ourselves an attractive, reusable bottle, fill it with straight-up or purified tap water, and stop pretending like it tastes any different from our beloved Dasani or Aquafina or Pure Life. Let's stop believing the marketing hype that has us cowed into believing that municipal water is somehow less safe or less healthy than expensive branded water.

Put the Nix on Plastic and Aluminum

In our quest for the perfect re-usable water bottle, let's just say no to those of the plastic variety, since they take a ton of energy to produce and may leach a variety of toxins — not just BPA — especially when heated in the microwave or filled with hot liquid. They also sweat a lot when you put ice in them, and they can make your water taste kinda like the inside of a tent that's sitting in the sun on a 95-degree day. 

Let's also say no to aluminum water bottles too, since they're lined with chemicals — including BPA — that protect the aluminum from acidic liquids, which causes a reaction and makes your drink taste like that swing set pole you licked on a dare in third grade.

If plastic and aluminum are out, that leaves glass and stainless steel.

Go Green with Glass

Glass water bottles are 100% recyclable, easy to clean, and they leach exactly zero chemicals into your drink. Glass will never affect the taste of your water, ever, and it feels lovely in your hands. Sure, glass is breakable, but a silicone sleeve will protect it for the most part.

Takeya Glass Water Bottle with Silicone Sleeve, 22.5 oz., under $20

Chemical free and featuring an airtight, twist-off cap and a wide mouth so that you don't have to cut your hands trying to smash and pound ice cubes down through the neck, this glass water bottle is tall and skinny and feels soooooo nice in your hands. The silicone sleeves even have little windows so that you can see how much water you have left, and the sleeves come in black, cobalt, fuchsia, green apple, and purple.

Full Circle Tea Time Glass Tea Bottle, 19 oz., about $24

This one just had to be included, because, well, just look at it! Just because it's called a glass tea bottle doesn't mean you can't drink ice water out of it. But since it's technically a tea bottle, swap out a couple of water fill-ups for a cuppa green tea each day for incredible health benefits, including some serious antioxidant action. It's got a built-in strainer at the bottom for loose tea, lemon, or mint leaves, and it's designed to "minimize impact" if it's dropped. The heat-resistant glass with a built-in cork sleeve will protect your delicate hands and make you the poster girl (or boy) of modern, sustainable beverage consumption.

Elegant and Powerful: Stainless Steel

Although stainless steel is energy-intensive to produce, a stainless steel water bottle will easily outlast you, it's 100% recyclable, and it doesn't affect the taste of what's inside. It's a great insulator for both hot and cold bevs, and it's unlined, so you don't have to worry about chemicals leaching into your drink.

Eco Vessel Aqua Vessel Insulated Filtration Water Bottle, 24 oz., about $40

This food-grade stainless steel water bottle features a built-in filter that cleans the water as you drink it, which makes it really nice for those who get the collywobbles from plain ol' tap water and want to be able to refill the bottle on the go. The plant-based filter cleans 100 gallons of water before you'll need a $16 replacement. The filter removes 99.9% of Cryptosporidium and Giardia and reduces traces of heavy metals, microscopic pathogens, toxic chemicals, dirt, and chlorine. You can take the filter out if you'd like to enjoy unfiltered juice or tea or whatever, and the Aqua Vessel's vacuum insulation can keep your favorite beverage cold for up to 36 hours. Although if you're only drinking 24 ounces of liquid every 36 hours, you might want to bump that up a little, or unfiltered water will be the least of your worries.

Aqua Zinger, 19 oz., about $25

If you prefer your water with a little flavor, throw the flavored drink drops in the garbage where they belong and get yourself an Aqua Zinger. This food grade (meaning taste-free) stainless steel water bottle has a nifty cup on the bottom that you unscrew and stuff full of lemons, oranges, cucumbers, blueberries, or any other fruit or vegetable that strikes your fancy. Then, you screw on the cup, and when you do, these built-in, stainless steel teeth grind up your ingredients so that the juices flow through the filter screen and into your water. Shaking it makes it even more tasty.