“Green Planet Bottle” has become a substitute for consumers of the plastic bottle water since 2009. This product is labeled as organic, 100% plant-based, petroleum-and BPA-free, and carbon neutral. It is not only healthy for consumers, but also has positive impact on our environment. It sounds like the days of plastic water bottle made from petroleum are gone. However, I wonder how “green” or sustainable these green planet bottles can truly be?
According to the fact sheet of Pacific Institute, the process of bottling water produces more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide and it takes 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water. Transporting bottled water also requires millions in barrels of oil. Not only the waste is produced, but the time it takes to break down is also significant. It just doesn’t worth it.
Throughout Green Planet website, I could not see anything about the company itself but just the product. It has a very simple and basic bare bone format with hardly any information about their practices such as actual production process and transportation system of the bottle. They claim that their product is sustainable comparing to “old school bottled water”. Their bottle is not like those made from crude oil that could cause over filling of landfills and harmful greenhouse gases. Without leaching harmful chemical, it is safe to reuse. But in fact,a compostable bottled water is still bottled water. It is the same thing with only different packaging and marketing campaign. When it comes down to it, bottle water will never be as good for the environment.
In Annie Leonard’s YouTube video, she states clearly that bottled water is actually trashing our environment all around the world. Even the plastic bottle water labeled as recycling, it is still not fully recycled. Some of them will slate to be down cycled or end up in the landfill. Therefore, this company obviously involves greenwashing component. They are definitely trying to take advantage of the good intentions of consumers who wish to protect the planet. They are misleading them about the real face of their product.
Personally, I drink filtered tap water because I found that filtered water was much cheaper than bottled water. I am surprised that Aquafina is just filtered tap water, though, since I always thought that Aquafina had a sweeter taste than tap water.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I have heard that San Diego tap water was not as clean as that of most cities because SD is below Los Angeles, and all the pollution from LA runs into the SD water (since SD is south of LA). I'm wondering if this is true, or just rumors that water bottle companies started. I also read in an online article (on Yahoo! http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/110/cities-with-best-and-worst-tap-water.html) some time ago that San Diego was a city with one of the worst tap water.
I think this is important information people need to know. The green movement is still in effect and the more companies use the word "recycled" the more consumers assume it’s perfectly fine for the environment. But, as you have shared this isn't necessarily always true. Also, besides polluting the earth, bottled water (from a recycled or un-recycled bottle) can actually be more unhealthy than filtering tap water yourself. Tap water has to be tested and checked regularly, but the testing for bottled water is random and less frequent. So you’re better off with buying an eco-friendly canteen and refilling it with your own filtered water everyday.
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