UPDATE: April 9, 2008 – see our story on the new NON-Leaching Nalgene Bottles on our companion site Sustainable is Good Products
Water filter maker Brita owned by Oakland-based Clorox has teamed up with Nalgene to launch a new campaign aimed at reducing the use of disposable water bottles.
The campaign, Filter For Good, is obviously mutually beneficial to both the water filter and reusable bottle makers. It also may be in response to the growing sales of another popular reusable bottle Sigg.
The new campaign highlights the perfect marriage of the two products. Use your Brita to purify tap water and then fill your Nalgene with the tap water. Clearly this choice has tremendous environmental benefits when you look at disposable bottled water as the alternative.
According to the LA Times, Sigg has worked a deal with Aveda placing their water bottles at this year’s New York Fashion Week. Sigg USA also reports a 200% increase in sales over the last three months.
There certainly has been increased attention to the disposable water bottle issue over the last several months.
More than anything from my discussions with consumers Nalgene has suffered more from the fact their bottles are mostly made from Lexan #7 plastic than anything else. Increasing numbers of consumers are turning to reusable bottles made of metal like the Sigg or Klean Kanteens over their plastic bottles.
Nalgene has also launched Refill Not Landfill, a campaign aimed at encouraging more consumers to use their reusable bottles over disposable water bottles. The company uses #7 Polycarbonate/LEXAN, #2 High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), #4 Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and # 5 Polypropylene (PP) plastics to make the various products in their line.
Again the resistance I have seen from consumers related to reusable plastic water bottles has more to do with consumers being concerned over plastics as opposed to objecting to the idea of a reusable bottle itself. Whether the concerns are unfounded is another issue but the feeling is certainly out there. I believe this is why companies like Sigg and Klean Kanteen are seeing increases in sales.