Green Product Review: Lifefactory Reusable Water Bottle

Review summary: My favorite reusable water bottle is Klean Kanteen, but a year or so ago, I decided to branch out and try a Life Factory water bottle. This is a pretty glass water bottle that doubles as an arm weight and has few cons.

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Product: Lifefactory 22-Ounce Beverage Bottle in sky blue by Lifefactory.

Use: You drink from it of course while eliminating disposable water bottle waste and puppy dog blindness. Oh, and did I mention, this and other water bottles can save you $6,000 over 5 years.

Cost: About $23 on Amazon, which is cheaper than what this bottle will cost you at most brick and mortar establishments. I paid $25 or $30 at Powells Books.

Lifefactory design and safety:

These are glass bottles, totally recyclable and free from wacky tastes.
BPA, phthalate, PVC, and polycarbonate free.
The sleeve is made of silicone, is free from plastics and is 100% non-toxic.
All materials are FDA approved.
The wide-mouth design make it easy to add ice, citrus slices, tea bags and so fourth.
Bottle and sleeve can both be put in the dishwasher.

*Note: Lifefactory also makes glass kid bottles, baby bottles and smaller (16 oz adult bottles).

What I think:

I think these bottles are well-made, but a bit heavier than stainless steel bottles, especially with fluid inside. The perk of being on the heavy side is that these bottles make nice exercise equipment. For instance, I use mine as an arm weight while jogging or walking.

Although made of glass, these are surprisingly sturdy with the addition of the silicone sleeve. I’ve dropped mine about a dozen times while jogging, and it’s still in one piece.

The design is very pretty and there are tons of colors to choose from.

Everything tastes better in glass.

The wide-mouth seriously fits half a lemon through it, great for me, because I don’t love naked water.

Very easy to clean, both by hand and by dishwasher.

Were there any negatives?

The cap is made of polypropylene cap – a plastic. BPA-free, but still uses resources.

The screw-off cap makes movement while drinking extremely hard. I’ve spilled tons of water on myself while using this bottle. If you’re hiking, walking, running or basically scratching your nose, you have to stop, un-screw the lid, drink, re-screw the lid, then you can move again. I hate having to stop to drink, especially when hiking. (*SEE NOTE BELOW)

Glass is a poor insulator. This bottle won’t keep your drinks as cold as stainless steel. This actually doesn’t bother me, as warm beverages cool you down better than icy cold, but it may be a con for some.

NOT great for kids. I have dropped my bottle a lot. However, Cedar, my 11 year old drops his Klean Kanteen all the flipping time. I have a feeling this bottle would be dust within a year in my son’s hands. He does borrow it around the house, and hasn’t had issues, but it worries me. See better reusable water bottles for kids.

The sleeve is tough to get on and off (for occasional washing). Not impossible, but tough.

Overall score:

3 out of 5 little trees. Although I REALLY like the look of this bottle and like drinking out of glass, I hate being sloshed with water OR having to stop every single time I want a drink. It makes life too complicated, not to mention wet.

THAT SAID….

Just recently, Lifefactory came out with a brand new Flip Top Cap option. In my opinion, a flip top cap would push this product’s score right up to a 4.5. Also, because of all the water I’ve been covered with over the last year, I’m going to recommend you head straight for this version.

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