S’well Water Bottle- Review

Today marks 27 weeks… and next Thursday will mark SEVEN months of pregnancy. It’s been a crazy roller coaster and I am continuously amazed that we were successful, that she’s still wiggling and thriving in my belly. As awful as IVF was, as many scares we’ve had, I am so thankful that in the end we’ll have a beautiful baby girl.

Pregnancy is a strange thing- I may not have been eating pickles and icecream (ew pickles), but I’ve definitely had some interesting food occurrences. Currently I crave chocolate like I would DIE without it.

One of my more interesting aversions until about the 5 and a half month mark was water. Drinking water in any form made my nausea spike, I could barely keep it down. Like all other food related things during those first five months, I just tried to get liquids in any way possible, if that meant juice or popsicles, so be it.

Unfortunately, once I could drink water again without vomiting all over the place, my normal water habits in prepregnancy state of about 2-3 glasses per day no longer cut it. Whereas prior to pregnancy that would have been alright, now there are some immediate consequences to not drinking 6-8 glasses of water per day.

Like constipation, headaches, dry skin, fluid retention, scary poos and even terrifying uterus pains. The last point being the most dramatic and terrifying for someone with a high risk of premature labour. All uterus pains have resulted in checking for blood, dreams of bruising on my belly or like last night- I dreamt I was actually admitted for premature labour, waking terrified it was happening.

Drinking as much water as possible has now been my goal. Except- I’d need a new water bottle. Andrew was using my Klean Kanteen at work and besides, I never actually really liked my Klean Kanteen. The mouth of the bottle was too wide and I was always missing my mouth (hah). It also isn’t insulated, so water is always lukewarm. Previously I would have managed, but even though I can tolerate water again, it needs to be cold. I considered using my insulated Klean Kanteen coffee carafe, but despite regular cleanings it smells like coffee and is stained. Definitely not a double duty kind of mug.

Due to the need for the water to be cold, despite the higher energy cost needed in creating stainless steel water bottles, I knew I needed something double walled and stainless steel (as opposed to glass, which would have a lower energy footprint). I also knew that plastic was out, particularly with recent reports that even plastic claiming to be BPA-free has been found to have elements of BPA and other chemicals.

I’ve seen S’well bottles around and wondered about them. I won’t lie- they are so pretty! However, pretty packaging typically makes me weary- I want to know if the company has some solid environmental policies and practices and isn’t hiding behind some trendy colours and designs.

Some research revealed that S’well has some solid environmental practices, supporting Unicef, American Forests and Drink Up charities. Made from food grade stainless steel with the claim that S’well bottles are made responsibly in China (as stated on their packaging), at first glance S’well bottles looks fairly similar to other stainless steel water bottles, policy-wise. It would be nice to see more specific environmental business practices (ie- type of paint used on the bottles, recycling and energy usage practices of the business, exactly what “responsibly made in China” means).

So I bought one. I spent FOREVER picking out the exact design and colour I wanted. I’m sure other customers thought I was a crazy lady, pulling out tubes, looking at the bottom and lining up my choices. In the end I went for Beach Cottage (honestly, I also love the After Dark collection, but it wasn’t available where I was shopping so…).

Initial thoughts with packaging- It comes in a compacted paper tube wrapped in plastic. Which is kinda lame honestly. It would be great if they could figure out a way to minimize packaging. I have no idea how to recycle the cardboard tube it came in… I’m gonna hope our municipal paper recycling will accept it.

My S’well bottle’s first challenge- a work conference (that I received special permission from my OB to attend: as long as I mostly sat).

Verdict: Resounding SUCCESS

• The smaller mouth opening is the perfect size for easy water drinking and no spillage.
• The smaller opening was still large enough for me to drop in ice cubes (although regular tray icecubes that are cube shaped likely won’t fit).
• The size (500ml) fits easily in my bag/purse.
• NO spills or leaks, even when tipped upside down.
• It actually did keep my water icy cold for 10 full hours! (their claim is 24 hrs, but I didn’t leave enough water to actually test this).
• It looks super pretty.

I am ridiculously pleased with this water bottle. Although I’ll keep it as a strictly water bottle (particularly for ease of cleaning, the smaller mouth isn’t convenient for cleaning), in the week since the conference my S’well bottle has become a staple whenever I leave the house, and was worth every extra penny.

This morning, after waking to some pretty scary uterus pains, (from a dream that I was being admitted for premature labour) and checking for blood, my S’well bottle with a few ice cubes made it next to my bed as I waited to see whether the water would do the trick. To my extreme relief, within an hour the pains had passed and the little Bean is still safe and sound, kicking and wiggling away.