Greenwashing: Nestle Plastic Water Bottle
I pulled the above image from the One-City blog. The add is for the Nestle Pure Life water bottle, which has an “Eco-Shape” (notice the trademark there). With this fashionably thinner bottle that has 15% less plastic we can all make a difference. Notice the asterisk* next to the “15% less plastic.”
I’ve looked into it and on the Nestle website it says the bottles now have 30-40% less plastic which might be nice. The note for the asterisk was very hard to find; it was covered by other text and itself was not text, it was a text-turned-image so I couldn’t copy and paste, also the color made it hard to read. It’s the grey text here:
The part I can read says, “… .5L bottles across twelve cities. Over 130 different .5L bottles were weighed across the water, soda, juice and tea categories. On average, the Eco-Shape bottle was found to be the lightest .5L bottle on the market containing 30% less plastic when compared to the average of other .5L bottles.” It’s actually really hard for me even to determine what this means. Are they saying they have less plastic when you compare it to the weight of other bottles? Does that mean that they aren’t actually looking at the exact numbers and statistics of how much plastic goes into their product compared to others, they are just measuring it solely by the weight of other same-sized bottles? Does anyone have a better idea at what this means?
It does seem like they are using less plastic than they use to, even if their measurment standards are a bit unreliable. But I’m not sure that I want to buy their product simply because their bottle has a little less plastic. Let’s be honest here, plastic is never really that great of a thing. If it doesn’t get recycled it lasts a super long time and it’s not actually “easier to live with” as the Nestle web-site claims. I’ve become increasingly wary of the plastic packaging that is wrapped around every little thing, like breath mints, fruit at Trader Joes (that’s another story), and water. We are told we can just throw it away, as if throwing it away is going to make it disappear forever…–>
Have you heard about the North Pacific Gyre, the giant mass of plastic soup in the Pacific Ocean that is about twice the size of Texas? See what happens to a good deal of the plastic we produce:
Can’t see the video? Go here.
January 15, 2010
I think that you have the correct interpretation of the label. It sounds to me like they are saying they weighed a bunch of different plastic bottles and their bottle weighs 30% or so less. Which of course, means very little without more information to go on.
What I really like is the statement that their label is now 1/3rd smaller. I realize that with the vast quantities of labels that are printed for these bottles a savings of 1/3rd could add up to millions annually, but it seems that most of that savings would be for the company rather than either the consumer or the ecology.
June 22, 2010
Plastic is never ending material. It is harmful for living beings. Try to avoid it as much as possible.
Nice article.
July 14, 2010
I think the really cool Nestle takes such a decision to make more ecological packaging
all large companies should do this
I do not know if Nestle was the first major undertaking of this kind of industry to do so, but it was really cool.
July 20, 2010
Lesser plastic it may be, but still it’s plastic. Plastic is only favorable for those who make profit out of it but little did they know the more plastic they produce the more harm is done for people and environment.
July 29, 2010
If the label means that the bottles that their using are less plastic it is a good news then at least it help a bit lesser harm for our environment.
August 5, 2010
Plastic is detrimental to our environment. The only way out of the deadly and lasting danger of plastic is to cut down its use, if not avoid it altogether.
August 21, 2010
No Plastic. no plastic please. When terephthalates start to mimic estrogen on breakdown, what are we doing using any plastics to contact any food.
September 22, 2010
Plastics is inevitable. However if all people will be aware of the its effects, we can build a world that has lesser plastic problem.
December 6, 2010
Contcat with plastics can affect hormone levels and give rise to all sorts of problems yet it is such a useful material it is difficult to avoid.
December 8, 2010
Buying “purified” water in a plastic bottle is an oxymoron. I don’t care how light the bottle is. Bottle you own purified water in home, save money, energy, and the environment.
December 9, 2010
As long as the label says that the bottle uses less plastic or uses recycled plastic, it’s a plus for our environment. Hopefully the multitude of these bottles that are made and sold is making somewhat of a dent in helping our planet.
January 19, 2011
Everyone knows by now that plastic water bottles are not the most environmentally friendly product on the planet. Because the water industry bottles millions of gallons per year, the net effect is a dangerous one considering the fossil fuels used to make these bottles and the damaging effects this plastic has once dumped into landfills. What many people do not know is that simply refilling a bottle to use repeatedly or choosing a hard plastic bottle to keep around are not necessarily the best solutions. Why? Because these bottles also pose a personal health threat.
January 24, 2011
Since most plastic bottles find their way in landfills, they will just end up buried beneath the ground. The soil may be contaminated over time with these toxic substances. If the soil is affected, plants cannot grow easily. Groundwater may also be contaminated if the toxic chemicals sink deeper into the ground. Plastic bottles may be reused by recycling companies, but millions of these bottles are eventually thrown away.
February 2, 2011
There a quite a few people who buy plastic water/drink bottles and then reuse them over and over again. Reusing the bottles in that fashion is very bad for your health. There are even some plastic bottles that shouldn’t be drunk from straight from the store. Plastic is essentially a porous material, which means that some of the chemicals leaches out into the liquid it contains. Some chemicals leach more than others but the point being here that any chemical that leaches is going into your body.
February 2, 2011
Bottled water, due to several factors, is clearly not a healthier or purer alternative to tap water. Also, bottled water is outrageously expensive when compared to the cost per gallon of tap water. If one is choosing only between tap water and bottled water, tap water is plainly the more economical, and, in many cases, the healthier choice. Despite this assertion, tap water does not remain without its problems.
February 9, 2011
And although the plastic bottles are made up of material that are generally recyclable, 80% of the bottled water bottles consumed in the USA just end up in landfills. Recycling rates are even lower worldwide, with 90% of the bottles not being recycled.
March 12, 2011
Plastic bottles are easy to use and convenient; but, they are terrible for the environment. And with possible BPA leaching, they’re not that great for us humans either. As mentioned above, only 20% of plastic bottles actually make it to a recycling plant. With percentages that low, there is no question about it: plastic bottles are killing the planet. I use a reusable stainless steel bottle, and it’s great knowing every time I use my Klean Kanteen that I’m benefitting the environment as well as my own personal health.
Go green!(:
December 20, 2011
Hi.
I’ve read your article. Tap water’s main advantages are availability, cost (it’s more or less free of cost) and fact that it’s environment friendly (no transport, no plastic bottle producing, no distribution, no water). Disadvantage: it contains chemicals that provide drinkability. So it can be genotoxic, the level of it can increase with old or bad pipes etc.
On the other hand all types of water (even natural spring and mineral) contain chemical substances which despite very low levels harm human’s health. So reducing the level of genotoxic materials is essential.
You might want to check unique bottle available in UK now, called Flaska. This glass bottle is programmed meaning that the information imprinted into the glass changes water’s structure and surface tension and thus lowers genotoxicity.