Beverages to Go - Greener Choices

The greenest way to have your favorite beverage to-go is to make a big batch and use your own portable beverage containers (thermos, aluminum bottle, plastic if you must). If you stock up on a enough of these containers you can make a big batch of your favorite drink, and pour into your ready containers, and keep on hand, ready to go, in your fridge. Excellent beverages for making in big batches are ice tea, sweet tea, green tea, lemonade, half fruit juice/half water (homemade flavored water!), iced coffee (mix in sugar and cream or flavored creamer while warm), but you can use anything that doesn't require carbonation as most portable containers don't do a very good job of keeping carbonation in.

Now, if you are not the perfect model of a "greenie" (very few people are) you will run into the occasional temptation to grab a drink on the go at a convenience store or grocery store. If you want to buy a convenient drink to go - what are your greener choices? For one thing, you could keep a few clean to go beverage containers in your car (with your green shopping bags, of course) and use the fountain drink machine. Most convenience stores allow you to bring your own drink container and often give you a discounted price on the beverage for doing so. You can also try doing this at fast food restaurants.

Sans drink container, my first choice is whatever I can find in an aluminum can. Aluminum cans, unlike plastic bottles, recycle readily and aluminum can be recycled over and over, infinitely, so I understand. Plastic bottles, even the types your recycling center will accept, have limited after-cycling uses, and plastic apparently breaks down into less usable product when recycled over and over. Another bonus to aluminum cans is that if you save them up and take a trip to your local metal recycling center a few times a year, you can get some cold hard cash for your aluminum. Keep a trash can just for collecting aluminum cans at home, and invest in a can crusher (saves a lot of time). Save up your cans until you have a sizable load, as heavier loads usually get a better payout price when you turn them in for cash.

I was about to blog about my frustration with finding something other than sodas, and sickeningly sweet beverages, available in aluminum cans. Then I had to make a quick trip to my local organic foods store for cleaning supplies, and noticed they carried quite a selection of more appealing, healthier beverages in cans. Fabulous! Now I can keep an assortment of sodas as well as healthier drinks on hand at home, grab and go when I need them, and save up the cans for some cool cash back. I like to use my can money to throw a little cook-out party in summer. Cost of admission? - BYOB, in cans! Thanks for your donation! ;-)

When it comes to recycling, glass bottles would be the next best choice, I believe. However, I don't see a huge come-back of this as I'd imagine shipping these would be a nightmare due to breakage. However, I would like to see it if it can be done. Also, retailers could start offering BYOC (bring your own container) beverage service. No waste! Much less packaging needed for the bulk beverage stations, and the large jugs or kegs, or whatever they use, can be sent back to the producer and cleaned and refilled over and over! I've heard of a few small retailers doing this, like out in California, but haven't found one in Maryland that I know of. If you know of anyone doing this, please let me know!

Thoughts? Comments? Any other ideas for greener alternatives for beverages on the go? I'd love to hear from you!