In , Americans bought Just imagine all that packaging, much of which ends up in landfills. Do boxed waters make a meaningful difference to the environment? Bottled water has been under significant scrutiny lately for its environmental impact — and for good reason. Oil is the first ingredient in plastic bottles, and they take years to decompose.
Our oceans have been filling up with plastics and accumulating throughout the food chain. Studies show that most shoppers do consider the environment when making purchases , and there has been increasing concern about the impacts of plastic. Are packaged water manufacturers rising to the challenge with eco-friendly packaging?
Some major beverage manufacturers, such as Coke and Pepsi, are offering their water products in aluminum cans to attract plastic-weary shoppers, but the big-picture benefits are negligible or even counter-productive.
In some other countries, like Vietnam, some cartons end up dumped on beaches and in the ocean. The recycling rate for PET, the type of plastic used to make bottles, is still dismally low, at And a plastic bottle can be recycled into a new plastic bottle; new recycling technology means that the process could happen infinitely in a closed loop.
Some facilities have a sophisticated process to recycle cartons. Sustana, a paper company, uses patented technology to separate paper from plastic after cartons go through a giant blender-like machine called a hydropulper. The company uses the same technology to recycle coffee cups. The fiber, which is high-quality, gets recycled into other paper products. Another recycler makes cartons into building materials. Is boxed water just another greenwashing campaign, or will this product actually make a long-term difference?
Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one. Welcome to my Team of Skeptics! Some brands pass muster, and three cheers for them. Your instincts are spot-on in flagging boxed water for a closer review. So, is it actually better? To paraphrase Rev. Packaging water in a carton is better if your alternative is plastic or glass bottles — probably. The brand promotes the fact that 76 percent of its carton is paper, but the rest of it is a complicated layer cake of polyethylene plastic and aluminum.
Their partnership, The Retree Project , plans on planting one million trees by in National Forests across the country. Last year, they planted , Boxed Water's website has a store locator feature in which you can enter your zip code and get an extensive list of nearby stores that sell their cartons.
New retailers are added daily.
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