For the most part, no disposable water bottle can ever live up to the environmental reputation of a reusable bottle filled with tap water, but water corporations are coming up with some unique and creative methods of increasing the eco-factor of their one-use water packaging containers. Check out the latest in bottled water technologies and judge for yourself whether these options are any better for the planet.
Boxed Water Company
With perhaps the most unique approach to eco-friendly water packaging, Boxed Water has produced what they consider a greener option to traditional plastic. The green credentials include the fact that the boxes are made from 76% renewable, certified-sustainable trees and that they are recyclable with other cartons. The company ships flat boxes to regional locations where they are filled, which reduces transport emissions. And they donate 20% of their profits – 10% to water relief foundations and 10% to reforestation efforts. [1]
Photo Source: inhabitat.com
IceRok’s GlacierPak Water
Another very intriguing water packaging idea comes out of IceRok. Their GlacierPak is a flexible delivery system they claim is less toxic (leeches fewer toxins, especially in the heat) and more environmentally friendly. These packages are made from three layers of (proprietary) composite material that is BPA-free. Their paks use 50% less material than a traditional PET plastic water bottle, use less energy to produce and transport (especially since empty ones are shipped flat to the filling facility), and use less water during manufacture as well. [2]
Photo Source: icerokglacier.com
Belu Bottled Water
Their bottles are carbon neutral through several initiatives, including producing and shipping only within the UK, using lightweight packaging, increasing recycled content (now at 50% recycled plastic), and using low-carbon plastic. What they can’t reduce they offset. In addition, they produce PVC-free plastic cap liners to cut their consumption of phthalates. Belu also contributes to water aid projects around the world and, to date, has helped provide safe drinking water for over 43,000 people. [3]
Photo Source: belu.org
BIOTA Spring Water
Made from 100% corn, the BIOTA PLAnet Friendly bottles and labels are completely biodegradable and represent the first commercially available compostable bottled water in the world. The company has licensed the NatureWorks™ PLA bottle design that has been certified as commercially compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), and should break down within 12 weeks. The bottles require about 30% to 50% less fossil fuel to create. Though remember that in order to rapidly break down, these bottles need to be composted in a commercial facility using high heat and high moisture as well as special microorganisms. Your backyard compost pile likely will not do the trick. [4]
Photo Source: watershed.typepad.com
Prima Water
Here’s another plant-based bottle created for Prima Water. Like BIOTA, these bottles are certified as 100% compostable by BPI and use the NatureWorks technology. These bottles are BPA-free, and the company claims that if all beverage bottles were made form plants like theirs, the world would save electricity equivalent to that used by 16 million residents. [5]
Photo Source: filtersfast.com
re:newal Premium Spring Water
re:newal is yet another company to produce a 100% plant-based bottle for packaging their water. It is made from surplus plants instead of petroleum, which means it is created renewably and can either be recycled, composted, or incinerated with fewer environmental consequences. [6]
Photo Source: renewal-water.com
GIVE Water
With a slogan “drink give. do good”, this bottled water company promises to turn consumers into philanthropists. Their green characteristics include producing and distributing their bottled water regionally and giving 10 cents to a green cause for every bottle or can. So the bottles aren’t exactly green, but their practices make their operations less environmentally impactful. [7]
Photo Source: drinkgive.com
Aquafina’s Eco-Fina Bottle
Of course, the big water companies are also developing their own versions of eco-friendly bottles for their water. Aquafina’s (a PepsiCo Company) ECO-fina bottles are made with 50% less plastic than their 2002 bottles, and they’re working to reduce the quantity of plastic even more. This has saved an estimated 75 million pounds of plastic annually for the company. Additional eco-friendly measures include producing their plastic bottles in U.S. plants to save 15,000 tractor-trailers of empty bottles from littering roads and reducing fuel consumption by 260,000 gallons. They are working on water recovery processes for their plants, saving 280 million gallons annually so far, and they are developing more local distribution methods to further reduce transport emissions. They even reduced the size of their plastic labels by 40% to cut an additional 2.5 million tons of material since 2007. [8]
Photo Source: lighterfootstep.com
PepsiCo’s Plant-Based Water Bottle
PepsiCo recently announced that they have developed a 100% recyclable PET water bottle made from 100% plant-based materials, a world first. Created using biomaterials such as switch grass, pine bark, potatoes, orange peels, and corn husks, this bottle will be pilot-tested in 2012. [9]
Photo Source: s3.amazonaws.com
Dasani Water
Coca-Cola’s Dasani Water is now being packaged in a plant-based bottle that is made from up to 30% non-fossil fuel materials. This PlantBottle is 100% recyclable and the process to make these bottles is said to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by 30,000 metric tons (the equivalent of 3 million gallons of gasoline). [10]
Photo Source: theredwhiteandgreen.com
Nestle’s ECO-Shape Bottle
Nestle is working to create greener packaging as well for their water distribution companies. Their ECO-Shape bottle is 35% lighter than their 2007 model, which is said to reduce their CO2 emissions by 1,400 tons, cut petrol use by 4,200 barrels, and save 4,500 trees. They are also using lighter weight secondary packaging. [11]
Photo Source: earthandindustry.com
Planet Bottle
This is a bottle-making company that has created a recycled polyethylene terephtalate (rPET) plastic bottle. Using recycled plastic, these bottles conserve landfill space, save energy during manufacture, and reduce consumption of fossil fuels. [12]
No company has yet to produce a completely eco-friendly water packaging device, but these solutions are heading in the right direction at least.
Photo Source: theplanetbottle.net
Sources
1. http://www.boxedwaterisbetter.com/
2. http://icerokglacier.com/
3. http://www.belu.org/
4. http://www.planetfriendly.com/
5. http://primabottle.com/
6. http://renewal-water.com
7. http://www.drinkgive.com/#/ourStory/
8. http://www.aquafina.com/
9. http://www.pepsico.com/pressrelease/pepsico-develops-worlds-first-100-percent-plant-based-renewably-sourced-pet-bott03152011.html
10. http://www.dasani.com/#/plantbottle
11. http://www.nestle-waters.com/environment/reduce-co2-emissions/green-bottle-packaging.html
12. http://www.theplanetbottle.net/
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