New Water Bottles Entirely from Plants

While we are all aware that we should only be using BPA-free, reusable water bottles, at least now there are some new, earth-friendly alternatives to traditional plastic bottles. 

Green Planet Bottling has introduced a 100-percent plant-based water bottle that is carbon neutral and toxin-free, compared to bottles contained both petroleum and BPA.  Green Planet water is vapor distilled for taste and purity, and the bottles are fully recyclable and compostable in 80 days.

Bottles returned to Green Planet are ground into flakes and then hydrolyzed to make new bottles.  Consumers can find Green Plant water in 16.9-ounce bottles at schools, select restaurants, corporate settings, hotels, and convenience stores. Twelve-ounce bottles are due out later this spring

Keystone Water Company also released its premium spring water in a 100-percent plant-based bottle at the Green Products Expo in New York City.  Keystone’s “re: newal” corn-based water bottles are made from from Ingeo plant polymers in partnership with NatureWorks LLC .

This plastic emits fewer greenhouse gases and uses far less energy than other plastic bottles, and Keystone’s bottles are compostable and recyclable.  The spring water has been tested across the southeastern US and Florida.

Both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have jumped on the bio-plastic bandwagon, although neither company has 100-percent biodegradable bottle just yet. Coca-Cola introduced its PlantBottle for its Dasani water brand.  The Plantbottle is a recyclable plastic bottle made from a blend of petroleum-based materials and about 30-percent plan-based materials last spring.

The bottles are made from a process that turns sugar cane and molasses into a component of PET plastic.  Coca-Cola started used PlantBottles for all Dasani water bottles in January in the Western United States, and at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Last March, PepsiCo introduced its Eco-Fina bottle for its Aquafina bottled water.  The Eco-Fina bottle uses 50 percent less plastic than the original Aquafina bottle introduced in 2002, and features a “rippled web” design, that, according to PepsiCo, will eliminate an estimated 75 pounds of plastic each year.

Environmental groups estimate that bottled water produces close to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year, most of it ending up in landfills.

Article by Julie Mitchell appearing courtesy Celsias