Before you buy another 24-pack of bottled water, consider this statement about how many barrels of oil it takes to make plastic water bottles: ?It takes 1.5 million barrels a year just to make the plastic water bottles Americans use, according to the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, plus countless barrels to transport it from as far as Fiji and refrigerate it.?

This appeared in the article, ?Water, Water Everywhere, but Guilt by the Bottleful,? in The New York Times, on Aug. 13 2007, by Alex Williams.

Resisting buying bottled water may be difficult for many people. Bottled water is cold, easy to store in a refrigerator and simple to transport. When people neglect to recycle bottled water, however, the bottles become a liability rather than a luxury.

According to the Container Recycling Institute as stated on refillnotlandfill.org, ?8 out of 10 plastic water bottles used in the United States become garbage or end up in a landfill.?

There are alternatives, however, for bottled water. One such alternative are Nalgene bottles.

Polycarbonate Nalgene bottles are perfect for storing water at the office, gym, outdoors or home. The water drinker may carry the burden of re-filling the Nalgene bottle on his or her own, but a Nalgene bottle is practical, and at this point, an almost necessary alternative to bottled water.

According to Nalgene-Outdoor.com's about page, Nalgene bottles have been around since 1949. Originally, however, Nalgene bottles only came in the form of scientific lab equipment.

Over the years, the Nalge Company began to create larger Nalgene bottles. Now, Nalgene bottles can be seen almost anywhere.

Nalgene bottles are beneficial for more than their reusability. According to Absorbent, Ink.?s Nalgene bottle product page, Nalgene bottles are virtually indestructible, lightweight and are constructed from high-grade polycarbonate to insure no strange odors or flavors spoil the taste of the Nalgene bottle's contents. This smell or taste transfer often occurs with traditional plastic water bottles.

Nalgene bottles may contain and protect your beverage more efficiently, but the company who produces the bottles has added an extra incentive with using the Nalgene bottle.

Nalgene has started a program called Refill not Landfill: A campaign to reduce disposable water bottle waste. The program states that if you purchase the limited edition Refill Not Landfill Nalgene bottle, your ?proceeds will go to Native Energy, supporting their mission to help build Native American, farmer-owned, community based renewable energy projects that create social, economic, and environmental benefits.?

A Nalgene bottle is a great way to make sure you are never without water. Nalgene bottle's strong construction allows them to be transported easily. Nalgene bottles and the Nalge Company have also done its part in helping reduce the waste produced through throwing away plastic water bottles. Perhaps it is time to purchase Nalgene bottles for your company to help reduce the waste bottled water creates daily.