Over recent months, the bottled water industry has caught a lot of negative press for not only its negative eco-impact but its reluctance to “man-up” to the accusations. Sure, some brands have touted their new “eco-design” bottles and whatnot, but the facts still remain that bottled water places a tremendous stress on our natural resources throughout the world.

Answering this call for eco-innovation is a new brand called re-source: a natural spring water brand focused on raising consumer awareness about the importance of recycling. The re-source brand uses 25% recycled plastic (rPET) in all of its bottles, while participating in a pilot of incentive-based, in-store recycling programs in an effort to increase consumer recycling rates.

The company’s recycling program is launching at 26 stores in California and Arizona with a goal of reaching 200 Whole Foods Market stores nationwide by Fall 2009.

“We recognize that there are significant challenges related to recycling in the U.S. and are focused on raising awareness and visibility for the issue,” said Monique Mims, re-source senior innovations manager. “Through increased consumer education, incentive-based recycling at retail and demonstration of the valuable uses for recycled plastics, re-source is taking an important first step toward changing consumer behavior and increasing U.S. recycling rates.”

re-source’s in-store recycling program provides an added incentive to encourage consumers to recycle. For every plastic beverage container that is recycled at a participating Whole Foods Market store in a re-source-branded GreenOps(SM) tracking station, re-source will donate 5 cents to the national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful, up to $200,000. The contributions will be used to support local Keep America Beautiful recycling programs nationwide.

Sustainability from first to last drop

re-source’s water is harvested from carefully selected natural spring sources, using sustainable practices. The water is then packaged in bottles made with 25% recycled plastic. Each re-source bottle serves as an education vehicle to inform consumers about the importance of recycling and demonstrate that recycled plastic can be reused repeatedly to create new consumer products. Recycled re-source bottles will be used to produce new products such as fleece, reusable shopping bags, carpet, plastic beverage bottles and other products.

“We believe that businesses as well as individuals must assume their share of responsibility as tenants of Planet Earth,” said Michael Besancon, senior global vice president of purchasing, distribution and marketing for Whole Foods Market. “re-source’s use of recycled plastic in its bottles and innovative in-store recycling pilot program will increase recycling awareness and give our customers another opportunity to be part of the solution.”

Engaging consumers

The re-source recycling program at participating Whole Foods Market locations, managed by Waste Management and GreenOps, provides consumers with tools to track and measure their recycling efforts. re-source-branded GreenOps tracking stations feature interactive machines with video screens that allow participants to remain engaged and informed about the recycling process. Consumers who use the recycling machines receive a code that they can use to log on to www.greenopolis.com and keep track of their individual recycling activities.

The pilot recycling program will start in California and Arizona and roll out at participating stores across the U.S. re-source will be available in 700 ml bottles for the suggested retail price of $1.69 each, as well as in 500 ml bottles for the suggested retail price of $1.29 each or $9.99 for a case of 24.

For more information about the product, visit www.re-sourcespringwater.com.

What’s your take?

Is the re-source initiative a well-intentioned step toward positive consumer progress, or just a massive greenwashing effort by Nestle?

Aquafina is also “driving additional environmental benefits” by producing the bottle at purification centers where filling occurs and by eliminating cardboard base pads from 24-packs – reportedly saving nearly 20 million pounds of corrugate by 2010.

Equipped with an all-too-snazzy “rippled web” and almost-sexy hourglass shapes, these water-giants seem to suggest that saying “We use less plastic” is as good as asking consumers to not use plastic at all – obviously encouraged more by recent negative press over the bottled water industry rather that actual environmental concern.

From the Aquafina-Eco-fina press release:

“At a weight of 10.9 grams, the Eco-Fina Bottle is made with 50 percent less plastic, eliminating an estimated 75 million pounds of plastic annually. Aquafina is also driving additional environmental benefits by producing the bottle at purification centers where filling occurs and by eliminating cardboard base pads from 24-packs, which will contribute to saving 20 million pounds of corrugate by 2010.”

The entire process of manufacturing, storing, shipping, disposing, and recycling plastic is a HUGE negative impact to the planet as a whole. No measure of disposable plastic water bottles can really be considered “green”.

The marketing ploy here is what I like to call “gullibly green”: convincing – no, tricking – customers into believing that the act of purchasing THESE bottles by the buttload is waaaay better than before. To hell with the stainless steel reusables that have been stealing the spotlight from the bottled water industry over recent months from companies like Sigg and Klean Kanteen. Buy THESE bottles, over and over again, and don’t worry about how much you throw away because hey it’s less plastic.

With huge revenues to be made by drink giants PepsiCo and Nestles, the greenwashing is not going to end. America’s “addiction to oil” is tied to its addiction to plastic. Only a small percent of the plastic we dispose of (even try to recycle) actually GETS recycled. Studies have shown that tap water, when filtered properly, is equally and in some cases even more beneficial to our health than its bottled counterpart.

Do yourself, your health, and your planet a favor. Get yourself a Sigg bottle, or any brand of reusable, poison-free bottle to carry your water around, and leave these bottles alone.

• Law enforcement officers enjoy Primo at many of their stations throughout the city of Denver, including around the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field.
• Guests at the four-diamond Omni Interlocken Resort found two complimentary bottles of Primo in their hotel rooms when they arrived.
• Triathletes at the Rattlesnake Triathlon in suburban Centennial, Colorado quenched their thirst with Primo Water. The triathlon, one of the first all green triathlons in the country, also recovered bottles and other materials for recycling and composting.

“Primo Water, with its plant based bottle, is leading the movement for sustainable green packaging, especially in bottled water. The fact that Primo is recyclable and compostable was a big plus to our event. We were very pleased to find them,” said Jim Flint, president of the Rattlesnake Triathlon.

Primo’s environmentally-friendly bottle is made from renewable and sustainable American resources, not depleting non-renewable resources like crude oil. In fact, if all plastic PET beverage bottles made from crude oil sold today in the U.S. were instead made from Ingeo^TM plastic, Americans would save the equivalent of a billion gallons of gas each year. Manufacturing the Primo bottle is also more environmentally efficient as it requires 65 percent less fossil fuel resources and emits 80-90 percent less greenhouse gases than a traditional petroleum based bottle.

Consumers will not only enjoy Primo for its environmental benefits, but also for its great taste. In blind taste tests conducted across the U.S. in late 2007, three out of four consumers preferred Primo over the leading spring water and four out of five preferred Primo over tap water. Primo is available at nearly 4,000 retail stores across the country.

About Primo Water Corporation
Primo Water Corporation, a privately-held company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, manufactures, markets, and services mineral enriched bottled water that meets both the convenience consumers seek and the environmental benefits they desire. Today, three product lines make up Primo Water Corporation’s portfolio. The first, introduced in June of 2005, offers 3 and 5 gallon Zero Waste bottles and an exchange program that rewards consumers for recycling their bottles for refills. The second,
launched in April of 2008, is a new line of Energy Star rated and stylish water coolers. And the third is a single-serve bottled water, in a more-environmentally-friendly bottle made from plants, not crude oil. According to blind taste tests, three out of four consumers prefer Primo over the leading spring water and four out of five prefer Primo over tap water. To learn more, visit http://www.primowater.com.