Ya know, you'd think that if you're spending $24 on a water bottle -- A WATER BOTTLE, for cryin' out loud -- that pitches itself as the BPA-free alternative to plastic, that it would ... oh, we don't know ... maybe be ACTUALLY free of BPAs?
Is that too much to ask?
Apparently yes, at least according to execs at Sigg, the maker of the metal bottle that's become a symbol of yuppie health iniatives. Sigg CEO Steve Wasik admitted in a letter to the public that Sigg bottles made before Aug. 2008 have trace amounts of BPA in the bottle liners.
But here's the kicker: Sigg officials knew this since 2006, but this is the first the public is hearing about it.
Despite the fact that these bottles were manufactured well within strict international regulations and posed no health risk, my team and I initiated a project in June 2006 to develop a new liner which would be both BPA free and produced in a more environmentally friendly manner. We recognized early that there were questions surrounding BPA and we wanted to be sure that we had a bottle liner that you, our customers, could have absolute confidence in.
Sorry, all we heard was:
2006, 2006, 2006. Yep, We knew since 2006. Sorry -- didn't we mention that before?
Wasik says that the BPA liners have been tested and don't leech any toxic chemicals into the bottles' contents. Aw, how sweet of them to think of us!
To be clear, all SIGG bottles made since August 2008 contain our new BPA free EcoCare liner. SIGG bottles manufactured prior to August 2008 have the former water-based epoxy liner which contains trace amounts of BPA. These bottles have been thoroughly tested and showed 0% leaching of BPA. It is easy to determine which liner you have, as they are of 2 distinctly different colors. Visit www.MySIGG.com/liner to see photos comparing the two.
Why tell us now? Do you think we can't handle the truth? It's not like we're full of rage because we spent $24 on a water bottle or anything. Nope.
It ain't easy being green. Fortunately, at least the company now has an exchange program in place. Go here to find out how to exchange your pre-Aug. 2008 bottle for a newer model.
Photo by Ryan Hyde
http://www.flickr.com/photos/breatheindigital/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
