Greenwashing: The New “Eco-Shape” Water Bottles Are BS

Okay - I’ve been reluctant to post on this when I first read about it last week on Green Daily.  I’m not one to hold things in too much - I suck at poker because I have a lot of tells.  Here it is - these new “eco-shape” water bottles being put out by Nestle are complete bullsh!+!  Nestle owns all of these bottled water brands in the US: Poland Springs, Ice Mountain, Zephyrhills, Deer Park, Arrowhead, Calistoga, Nestle Water and Ozarka.  So now they have a new “eco-shape” bottle on the market for several of these brands.  It’s supposed to make people feel “good” about their bottled water choices.

Why is this bottle better than the others?  Here’s what we’re told:

• The bottle is 100% recyclable
• New label that is 30% smaller
• Its easy to carry (are the others difficult??)
• Flexible so its easy to crush for recycling
• This bottle uses 30% less plastic

They are missing the big point here.  So what if they’re using 30% less plastic - great.  They’re still selling plain bottled water.  Nestle is filtering water and putting it in plastic bottles, most of which will not be recycled, and trucking it all over the country.  Now they’re blatantly greenwashing.  “Eco-shape.”  Give me an effing break! 

How do you combat this?  Simple.  Open your cabinet, grab a glass, and drink water that came out of your faucet (or Brita or filtered fridge or any other source from your municipality).  “But I’m on the go, now what?”, you ask.  Buy yourself a Sigg (or two or three) or some other non-leaching water bottle.  My new friend Aimee at EcoScene recommends a new corn-based plastic bottle with a filter built right in.  The bottle will decompose in as little as 80 days.  Heck, I won’t even complain if its a Nalgene bottle.  Just don’t buy bottled water.  Period.

Oh - by-the-by - here’s an exercise for ya - go click on the links for the various Nestle brands.  They all (except for Calistoga) have the same site.  It’s a brilliant little content management system they’re running there.  One of my favorite parts is the link for “Is your child healthy & hydrated?”  What I read in that question is “if your child isn’t drinking bottled water, they’re going to die!”

At least I know the City of Chicago won’t be buying any…

Source: Green Daily, Ice Mountain Water