Proper hydration while avoiding the use-and-toss mentality
Fishing as well as guiding in the Texas heat takes a toll on our bodies and dehydration is always a concern. Experienced guides stress proper hydration to their clients throughout a long day of fishing. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, to avoid dehydration, active people should drink approximately 16 ounces of H20 one to two hours before an outdoor activity. You should continue to consume six to twelve ounces of fluids—a combination of H20 and sports drinks—every 15 minutes that you are outside. So let’s add up all the fluids we need in a day. To comply with the above recommendations you should consume between 24 and 48 ounce of fluids per hour, so over the course of an eight-hour day of fishing you should consume around eight 24oz bottles of water plus an additional two to four 16oz bottles of sports drinks. The average angler could consume at the lower end of the recommendations where as a guide will need to consume at the higher end of the recommendations.
That's a lot of water and sports drink to carry in a cooler and the bi-product at the end of the day is a few dozen plastic bottles headed to recycling! If we extrapolate this over the entire guide/outfitter industry worldwide that is a staggering amount of disposable plastic bottles. Conscience of this, many guides have gone away from disposable bottles and have started using BPA-free Nalgene bottles. Though a bit pricey, reusable Nalgene bottles are rugged, carry 32oz, and best of all they don’t end up in a landfill or headed to recycling. Personally, I carry around six sterilized Nalgene bottles—don’t worry they are cleaned after every trip—in my cooler along with two 1-gallon jugs that are filled with filtered rainwater from a local water supplier. Most of my clients don’t seem to mind and don’t seem to miss the disposable plastic bottles. At the end of the day shoulders are sore, our bodies are hydrated, and Mother Nature has been giving a break.
So next time you are headed out fishing plan
accordingly and avoid the temptation of using disposable plastic water bottles.
Chances are you already have high quality reusable water bottles due to other
outdoor interest so put them to good use And continue to enjoy the great outdoors.
Fast Facts on Disposable Bottles
- 2,480,000 tons of plastic bottles and jars were thrown away in one year (2008).
- Tap water is cleaner, cheaper and healthier than store-bought water.
- 60 billion single-use drink containers were purchased in 2006, and 3 out of 4 were thrown out directly after use.
- Plastic bottles are among the most prevalent source of pollution found on our beaches.
- Plastic trash absorbs pre-existing organic pollutants like BPA and PCBs.
http://www.reuseit.com/facts-and-myths/use-and-toss-plastic-bottle-facts.htm