Hatin' on plastic water bottles is all the rage

Evian Is Just Evil Misspelled

Forget SUVs and Styrofoam: hip-to-the-times green folk are directing their ire at plastic water bottles. In the last few months, the energy-intensiveness of bottled water -- 1.5 million barrels of oil go into making the bottles for the U.S. market each year, and oodles more to transporting the H2O -- has seeped into the public consciousness. Big-city mayors have urged residents to stop hitting the bottle, and highfalutin restaurants are serving filtered tap water. Advocates point out that water flows freely in nearly every U.S. home, while 38 billion recyclable plastic vessels are trashed every year. Hoping to cash in on the latest consumer trend, Nestle will roll out its water brands in a bottle made of 30 percent less plastic, while Nalgene has teamed up with water-filtration giant Brita to launch a bottle-reduction campaign called FilterForGood. Then again, some Nalgenes and other hard plastic containers contain the icky chemical compound bisphenol A. Which is why we stick with martinis.

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Alana Semuels, 14 Aug 2007

straight to the source: The New York Times, Alex Williams, 12 Aug 2007

see also, in Grist: So Long, San Pellegrino

see also, in Grist: Umbra advises on plastic water bottles

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Comments: (9 comments)

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Boycotte Nalgene

The Nalge Nunc Corporation, makers of the popular Nalgene water bottles, produces and distributes devices used in animal research. Learn more about their unapologetic stance on animal testing, as well as ethical alternatives at www.BoycottNalgene.com.

- Chris

by RMADCHRIS at 10:46 AM on 15 Aug 2007

Evian

I don't know about it being Evil misspelled but have you ever noticed that backwards it spells Naive. Go figure.

by kdchoonoo at 12:57 PM on 15 Aug 2007

It's not just oil, consider water scarcity

Many of the bottled water companies take their water unsustainably from public streams and aquifers (often fossilized water from glaciers). With the growing demand, the loss of this water is already having significant consequences for ecosystems.

by namaste at 1:37 PM on 15 Aug 2007

Never once bought bottled water

One group in the UK is campaigning to make, in their words, carrying plastic shopping bags as unfashionable as wearing fur. Same is needed for carrying about plastic water bottles. We need some fashionable reusable water bottle designed by a famous designer, like with the I'm not a plastic bag tote.

by amc89 at 8:06 AM on 16 Aug 2007

so true...

After a month in East Africa, there is nothing more luxurious and decadent than opening the spigot and drinkin' it straight from the faucet! Man, it feels good to be able to drink fresh tap water! Even a year later, and back to full health from the Giardasis, I still get a kick out of it.

by pinkyracer at 4:44 AM on 17 Aug 2007

Nestle Waters..

I used to work for Nestle Waters.. and I can assure you that the reduction in plastic has nothing to do with the eco impact. I actually made of pointing of mentioning that, and the manager said "oh, yah, I guess". It's purely a cost thing. They are the cheapest product, going after Coke (Dasani) and Pepsi (Aquafina). The only way they can compete is by cutting their costs.

Though I suppose as long as it's being done, it's good. But the amount of waste produced in marketing materials alone is outstanding.

by walkerkickstone at 12:02 PM on 21 Aug 2007

Evian is Just Evil Misspelled

Generally I enjoy the flip tone of Grist, but I was put off by the first sentance of this article:

"Forget SUVs and styrofoam, hip-to-the-times greenfolk are directing their ire towards plastic water bottles...."

Oh.....so the problems of SUVs and styrofoam have been solved? My concern about today's green trendiness is that it could prove too shallow and short-lived to accomplish anything. Any manufacturer or politician would be wise to simply wait out the cause-du-jour and go back to business as usual.

In other words.....DON'T forget SUVs. DON'T forget styrofoam. Protest plastic bottles, if that's your thing. But most importantly, pick your personal battles and STICK WITH THEM.

by viridis at 9:01 AM on 22 Aug 2007

Ban bisphenol a

Sign a petition here:

foodkarmaalert@blogspot.com

Cory

by cmbryant1 at 10:16 AM on 02 Oct 2007

Urge Clorox to take-back/recycle Brita filters!

FilterForGood, sure but have you ever wondered what happens to all the used plastic Brita filter cartridges at the end of their lives?

If you lived in Europe, you could take that filter to a drop-off location where it would be sent back to Brita for recycling. Unfortunately, here in North America, we have no options for recycling our Brita cartridges at all. Each plastic cartridge is either landfilled or incinerated, adding to the toxic waste that is already choking our planet.

That's why I have signed on to the Take Back The Filter campaign (http://www.takebackthefilter.org) to urge The Clorox Company, which owns Brita in North America, to redesign their filters and provide a way for us to recycle them, as is done in Europe. I urge you to join me!

Here's how you can help:

Sign the Petition (http://www.gopetition.com/online/18444.html)

Send in your used filter cartridges: (http://takebackthefilter.org/2008/04/send-us-your-used-fi ...)

Read more about the issue: (http://www.takebackthefilter.org)

Spread the word. This is a grassroots movement. If we don't speak up, who will?

Beth Terry http://www.fakeplasticfish.com

by Beth Terry at 11:54 AM on 18 Apr 2008

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