>I had a brainstorm on the way to work this morning. (Another first). If what I'm really buying is the container, not the water in it, why don't I just buy containers? I am going to look for sturdier replacements for the bottles and use those when I want to take water someplace.

Works in most situations, but not for a few. For example, we're not allowed to take opened containers into the ballpark. They don't usually check, but they do now and then.

Tamar