Water bottles with in-built filters have been around for a while, in the form of some pretty low end products like the Brita sports bottle and the more recent Water Bobble, but we’re happy to see some more high end products on the market.

321 Water is a BPA free bottle made in Australia with a plunger action. Think coffee plunger, you put your drink in, plunge down and you’re ready to go. At the time of this post, the bottles retailed for $39 including GST, a 3 pack of replacement filters for $18 and we’re impressed that each part of the bottle can be replaced if you damage it – the plunger, the outer container, the top and the small caps.

Early 2011, ECOtanka released their first insulated water bottle in to the Australian market. This bottle has more than one unique feature when compared to similar bottles in other brands.

1) Unlike the Thermos  brand water bottles, the ECOtanka Polar Ice is suitable for hot & cold liquids.

2) The ECOtanka Polar Ice will also take the standard sports lid from the ECOtanka range, making it one of only two insulated water bottles on the market (that we’ve come across in Australia) to take a sports lid. The other is the Cheeki Insulated Water Bottle range.

3) It comes standard with a stainless steel cap, which means there’s no plastic touching your water.

INSULATION CAPACITY

• ICE COLD WATER – starting 5°C – 5 hours later 7°C.
  Result – only 2°C in 5 hours.
• HOT WATER – starting 96°C – 11 hours later 60°C.
  Result – only 36°C in 11 hours.

The ECOtanka Polar Ice is 800ml in size and is the same physical size as the 1 litre Trekka single wall drink bottle from ECOtanka, which means the Trekka Kooler cover (neoprene insulated pouch) can be used to protect and transport this bottle.

WHERE TO BUY

•  Shop Naturally $34.95 – sports lids additional purchase
•  Biome $42.95 (yeah, we know, they’re $8 over the RRP, which is close to 25% over-inflation) – sports lids not available
• Contact the distributor, Naturally Sustainable for a list of bricks & mortar stores in your area or buy directly from Naturally Sustainable through their online shop.

WHOLESALE ENQUIRIES

If you’re a shop and you’d like to stock the ECOtanka range, please contact Tracy from Naturally Sustainable 

What’s an anti-bottle you ask? These cool bottles are like those things you buy cheap wine in that stand up straight when they’re full of water and fold flat when they’re empty.

They have a sports cap like you’d find on a Pump bottle from the supermarket, and hold 500ml of water in a bpa free thin plastic bladder that flattens down and rolls up when it’s empty.

The handy carabiner means you can attach it to your bag, your jeans, backpack or whatever you like.

And best of all, when it’s empty, roll it up and put it in your pocket!

Sadly, they’re not available in Australia. Yet. Fingers crossed that someone will bring them in 2011. In the meantime, you can order a Vapur Anti-Bottle directly from the USA. CLICK HERE to visit their online store.

What did we love about the vapur? You can give it a giant squeeze and get the ultimate rush of water in a hurry. The downside? They only come in pretty small sizes at the moment, so they’re not good for transporting a whole day’s water supply. You can also check them out on Facebook.

For those who need something larger, Nalgene make some wide mouth flat water bottles like these in a 1 litre, 1.5 litre and 3 litre capacity. Priced from $18.95 and Nalgene water bottles available online from Shop Naturally and outdoor stores like Paddy Pallin. Click here to find your nearest Paddy Pallin store.

Please be aware that someone has been importing fakes in to the country, as boldly as through the Reed Gift Fair. Anyone selling Vapur bottles very much below their RRP of $18.95 should be given a wide berth and questioned.