Like many people, I really notice when I don’t drink enough. I’m really prone to dehydration headaches, and many an afternoon at the desk has been spoiled by that unmistakable pairing of tiredness and headache that not getting enough water results in. In spite of all this, it is quite east for me to get through the day and realise on leaving for home that I haven’t refilled my water bottle since the morning. For a while I’ve been using an empty Evian bottle, which is good in terms of reusing plastic, it’s far from ideal. I work in a busy open office, and the ridiculous sucking noises such a bottle produces are hard not to giggle about.

So when I came across the Dot Active waterbottle, I was keen to give it a try. It is a fairly simple straw-style bottle, with a nozzle which pops up for you to drink from. The dimpled bottle gives you a good grip, and the typical green Joseph Joseph colour is quite appealing.

The USP of this bottle is the dot system built into the lid. This is a simple tool which twists each time you refill the bottle, up to four dots, so you can easily keep track of how much you’ve drunk. The clicking is ridiculously satisfying to those of us with a fidgety nature, and it is very easy to use. It is such a simple but effective idea. The dot offers a gentle reminder that I need to keep drinking, and makes it really easy to note my drinking patterns (e.g. sometimes I’ve only filled up once by lunchtime, but twice in the afternoon). The nozzle has a rubber casing so is nice and soft, and it has a handy loop to hold it with, or hang it from/attach it to a bag/piece of gym equipment. As the name suggests, it is designed to be taken with you to the gym. I’ve taken it with me loads of times now, and I’ve found it really helpful to be able to keep track of how much I’m drinking, so I can adequately re-hydrate (a must after a long spin class!), and the straw system kept me from gulping down too much in one go.

It is vital that we move away from single or short use plastics – it is not going to be enough on its own, but it can be a step towards changing our consumer habits on a broader scale. In addition to this the mass sale of water from particular places can be damaging to the water levels and ecosystem of those areas. So a step away from bottled water can only be a good thing. The health benefits of drinking the recommended amount of water are widely acknowledged. So why not give the Dot Active a try, and kill two birds with one stone? Halt your reliance on bottled water and single-use plastics, and give yourself a health boost. There are plenty of bottles on the market, but this neat little system is certainly one of the best, bringing the simplicity and efficiency we’ve come to expect of Joseph Joseph out of the kitchen and into the gym.

Water bottles end up spending so much time with us, it makes a difference which one you choose! Which do you use? Do you, like me, notice a change when you’re getting enough water? Or are you able to rely on coffee alone? Tell us about your habits, and if you have any other tips for reducing single-use plastics, in the comments below!