Guy Harvey and re:newal are proud to offer their customers a U.S. sourced premium spring water that uses a 100% plant-based compostable bottle. Launched in February 2011, the Guy Harvey special edition re:newal premium spring water product will raise funds for ocean conservation programs by donating 10% of the proceeds from each bottle sold directly to the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation.

re:newal premium spring water offers a remarkable option to those who choose to drink bottled water by packaging pure spring water in a bottle made from plants, not petroleum. Most importantly, re:newal bottles offer more end-of-life options for consumers once they have finished drinking the refreshingly pure spring water.  Consumers now have the ability to recycle, compost, incinerate or re-use their bottles.

At re:newal, we continually innovate to provide customers unique and exciting options for their bottled water needs. You can do your part in helping protect our environment by offering your customers re:newal premium spring water and giving them a better option for themselves and our planet. Please join re:newal premium spring water and Guy Harvey as we take our first steps together to make a difference and help protect our environment.

A frequent misconception about purified water is that it comes from some ultra pure source. The marketing done by the companies that manufacture the water don’t help dispel this myth either. The truth is that the majority of the time the water contained in those bottles comes from municipal sources. Essentially, the company is taking water from a local source, filtering it, bottling it, and reselling it back to the residents at a substantially marked up price. With that being the case, you could filter and bottle your own water at home cheaply.

Spring water, on the other hand, comes from protected, underground sources that naturally flow to the surface of the Earth. In order to be able to be labeled spring water, the water that the company gets from the spring must have the same characteristics of the spring itself. It is regulated by the FDA and therefore must be purified and tested. However, the quality of the water is clearly superior to that of purified bottled water. This type of water should be used in situation where water quality is critical such as for making coffee or other foods that require good, clean, clear water.

Spring water also differs from purified bottled water in taste which is generally crisp and clean. Since it comes from a spring, it won’t have the impurities that are often found in bottled municipal water. Most spring waters are purified naturally at the source through a carbonation process that occurs due to the surrounding carbon gasses. The resulting water is generally much healthier and contains the beneficial minerals that the body needs to optimal function. Just be certain it comes from a real spring by reading the packaging.

Plastic bottles consume a lot of energy throughout its life cycle. It is estimated that 4% of the energy consumption in the U.S. is used in the manufacture of plastic products. About 1.5 billion gallons of oil are used yearly to make plastic bottles. This is the equivalent of providing gas to power 100,000 cars for one year. In a world where water is in short supply in many places, bottled spring water is the answer.

Three tons of carbon dioxide is produced for every tone of PET plastics. This doesn’t include the energy it takes to transport the water to its various destinations around the planet. Things wouldn’t be as bad if people recycled plastic bottles. It takes 2/3 less energy and produces less greenhouse gas to make a new plastic bottle from recycled materials than it does to make it from raw materials. Recycling just 12 bottles will save enough energy to power a 60 watt light bulb for three days.

Please do not buy the water sold by manufacturers with ordinary tap water from municipal sources. The water is filtered, packaged, and then sold to the general public at 100+% the cost. Purchasing a water filter and bottling your own water at home will save you up to $500 per year or more depending on the size of your family. If you absolutely must have bottle water, choose products that have been made from plant based plastics. Not only do green bottles use less energy to produce, they are fully compostable which means you’ll reduce your carbon footprint with each bottle you buy.

Bioplastic is a form of plastic made from biomass such as corn starch and vegetable oil. Although it is primarily used as food packaging, it has also been adopted for use in other products such as cell phone casings and carpet fibers. Unlike plastic products made from petroleum oil, plant based bottles and other products made from bioplastic are biodegradable. Specifically, they are created to be compostable and should be put in a compost bin rather than the trash can. This makes them a lot more Earth-friendly than the regular water bottles in use today.

Making plant based bottles is generally more environmentally friendly than their oil based counterparts. Most companies are able to use less energy and resources to make bioplastic products. For example, Natureworks uses 50% nonrenewable energy to make its bioplastic product Ingeo than other types of plastics on the market including PET. The company also produces 60% less greenhouse gas. The savings to the environment doesn’t stop at the production line. 100,000 food containers made with Ingeo instead of PET is equivalent to taking 19 gallons of oil worth of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. That is definitely worth making the effort to buy products made from bioplastics.

More and more companies are switching over to plant based bottles for their products. Renewal is a bottle water company that uses bioplastic containers to hold its water.  As the world moves towards sustainability, you will begin to see more and more products made from plant based plastics. However, consumers must support the development of these products by closing the loop and purchasing them whenever they can.

To address this problem, several companies have developed green packaging that is made from polylactid acid (PLA) resin. This is a type of plastic that is made from biological and renewable resources like sugarcane or cornstarch. This substance has been around for a long time but it wasn’t until the shift towards environmentalism that companies began taking a serious look at its uses in the marketplace. With the billions of products that use petroleum based plastic which do nothing but sit in landfills leaching toxic chemicals into the ground and water, the need to create something better is great.

PLA resin has a variety of applications including a few non biodegradable ones. It is used in the manufacture of packaging for food products. Examples of this include water bottles, disposable cups, clamshell containers for to-go food, and produce packaging. The primary benefit to using the resin for these materials is the fact that it is compostable. Instead of throwing the packaging in the trash or sending it to a processing plant to be recycled, it can be thrown into a compost pile where it will degrade gracefully in an Earth friendly way that leaves virtually no carbon footprint.

Other applications for PLA resin include medical products such as sutures, stents, and drug delivery devices. It is also used for technological products like cases for cell phones. Although the resin is more expensive than its petroleum based counterpart, the cost continues to drop as corn production increases. The need for the production of sustainable products that work with the natural rhythm of the planet is important in the quest to reduce pollution and the global warming problem that has resulted from that. Using products made with PLA resin is a good step in the right direction towards that end goal.

Despite the variety of brands, there are only six different types of bottled water. The most common type of water is municipal water. This is the same exact water that is pumping through the pipes in your house. The only difference is that the Florida bottled water company runs the water through a filter before packaging it and selling it to you. Spring water is another common type of bottled water. This is water that has been collected from a certified spring and must retain the same quality when processed as the spring itself. So if the spring has a certain amount of minerals in them, that can’t be changed or it cannot bear the label of spring water.

Along those same lines is mineral water which is water that contains 250 parts per million (or more) of dissolved solids that consists of minerals and trace elements. No minerals can be added to the water in order to claim the title of mineral water and only impurities are allowed to be filtered out. Artesian well water is water that has been drawn from an underground confined aquifer. Purified water is basically tap water that has been purified using a process such as distillation, deionization, or reverse osmosis. Sparkling water is water that contains carbon dioxide that makes it fizzy.

When selecting a Florida bottled water product, determine what type of benefits you want to get from the water. If you want something truly from nature, then go with the spring, mineral, or artesian well water. It doesn’t make sense to pay for bottle municipal water when you can get it from your tap. Additionally, try to get water that is packaged in compostable bottles. These bottles are meant to break down in a commercial compost which makes them more eco-friendly than traditional PET bottles.

One type of bottle you can use is the stainless steel or aluminum reusable bottles. These bottles are designed to be reused multiple times over several years and in conjunction with a home water filtering system. They are portable with some even coming with a clip that allows it to be fastened to a backpack or a bike. This type of water bottle is for long term use and for when you have the presence of mind to remember to grab it before you leave the house. By using these eco friendly water bottles, you will prevent hundreds of disposable water bottles from finding their way into a landfill.

If you do need to use a disposable water bottle for any reason, then you will want to buy from a company that uses a plant based plastic bottle rather than one made from PET plastic. Plant based plastics are made from a PLA resin that is developed from cornstarch or sugar cane. Unlike PET plastic, plant plastic bottles are biodegradable. When you are finished with them, you can send them to a commercial composting facility where they will breakdown completely into usable elements. These eco friendly water bottles reduce your carbon footprint and yet afford you the convenience of being able to dispose of the bottle once you are finished with it.

The other benefit to plant based water bottles is that they are non toxic to human beings. PET plastics carry the risk of containing bisphenol A (BPA) which has been linked to several cancers and neurological diseases. Since plant plastics are made from natural sources, you don’t have to worry about that. You can even reuse the bottles without fear of the contents becoming contaminated. Switching to eco friendly water bottles is one simple way of going green and still enjoying the lifestyle you have.

A corn bottle is, essentially, a bottle made from a corn based plastic. Specifically, it is made from a polylactic acid (PLA) resin which is created from cornstarch. Surprisingly, the substance has been around for a long time but has not been used in very many commercial applications because of the cost. However, with the green movement continuing to grow and people demanding sustainable products that do not contribute to the pollution problem, manufacturers have taken another look at plant based plastics and are now using it to make a number of plastic containers including bottles.

The main feature of the corn bottle is its biodegradability. These bottles can be reduced to reusable elements when put through a commercial composting facility. With over 50 billion disposable bottles being sold and used every year in the United States alone, the importance of having a bottle like this cannot be emphasized. Exchanging even 100,000 plastic bottles with plant based plastic ones is enough to take the equivalent of 19 gallons of oil worth of pollution out of the atmosphere. That is quite a positive impact for something as simple and basic as a plastic water bottle.

Although technically a corn bottle can be composted in a home compost bin, it is preferable that these bottles be sent to a commercial facility. This is mainly due to the fact that moisture and air can be controlled better in a commercial compost bin which ensures the optimal environment for returning the bottles back to their reusable parts. Despite that, these plant based plastic bottles are already finding themselves onto store shelves across the country. If you are hooked on bottled water but still want to make a green difference, look for water in bottles made from corn. The planet will thank you.

To counteract this, green manufacturers have developed compostable bottles. These bottles are made from plant based plastic that has been created from a renewable resource like corn or sugarcane. The major benefit of this type of bottle is the fact that it is biodegradable. Most bottles will disintegrate in a compost facility in 45-80 days rather than up to 1000 years. Since the bottle is made from natural ingredients, it will degrade into usable material that will not pollute the planet. In fact, the bottle can actually be broken down and turned back into another green bottle.

Another benefit to compostable bottles is that it takes less energy and resources to make them. In fact, Ingeo, which is a major component in many green bottles, is produced using 50% less energy and creates 60% less greenhouse gases. Replacing regular PET plastic products with Ingeo plastic will save about 775 gallons of gas worth of greenhouse gases per 100,000 pieces exchanged. It is safe to say that one little change has the potential to impact the Earth in a major way. Will it reverse global warming? Probably not but it is a step in the right direction.

Compostable bottles can be reused a number of times before they have to be thrown away. This is particularly important since one of the reasons why so many PET bottles end up in landfills is because they cannot be reused. The risk of toxins leaching into the food item rises with each use as the bottle becomes damaged through normal wear and tear. However, green bottles do not pose such a risk which makes them perfect for use as an all day water bottle that you refill with filtered water. Eco-friendly disposable water bottles are already available in stores so check your local natural food grocers for this sustainable water product.

However, many in the bottled water industry are working on making positive changes that will address the concerns voiced by the people. For the most part, bottled water companies are trying to hold onto the market share they have obtained in the industry. Not only has more manufacturers popped up in the space, the space is actually shrinking. For the first time in 2008, sales of the water product dropped by 1%. In 2009, sales continued to decline to the tune of 2.5% and the trend is expected to repeat itself in 2010.

Some of the initiatives taken on by manufacturers in the bottled water industry include reducing the amount of packaging needed for a bottle of water. For example, Nestle Waters has managed to reduce the amount of plastic used for their bottles by almost 90% over 20 years has significantly reduced the amount of resources they use to make the product. Other companies are switching over to a completely different type of packaging altogether. The rise of compostable bottles made from plant based plastics shows some companies, like Renewal Water, are considering the water’s cradle to grave lifecycle.

Several state governments are making a move on manufacturers in the bottled water industry. As it stands, almost all of the companies get their water from the source for free or for just a fraction of what they charge for the end product. Florida is moving to equalize this by introducing legislation that will tax bottlers by the gallon for the resources they are siphoning off to make their product. Only time will tell if they will be able to make the tax (a proposed 6%) stick. If they do, it won’t be long before other states follow in their footsteps.