Nestle has also worked on improving the production processes, which now uses 1.94 liters of water vs 3 liters on average for other brands. This makes Nestlé Pure Life one of the more environmentally efficient bottled beverages from a water waste perspective. However, PureLife currently uses normal PET.

Mountain Valley is one of the older brands in our comparison but their advantage is the use of reusable glass bottles. Although single-use glass bottles are perceived as better than plastic they are generally not due to energy used for production, weight, and recycling resources. In addition to the reusable bottles Mountain Valley also puts a great effort into sourcing the water sustainably and investing in protecting the local environment. On the negative side, the door delivery service of glass bottles seems wasteful in terms of transportation and CO2. Increase brand awareness with innovative, but cost-effective campaigns featuring your logo and message. In addition to this, they are dedicated to building local, low-energy rainwater capture centers as close to our customers as possible. The company’s stated goal is to “always be the most sustainable bottled water company on earth”. Whole Foods’ own spring water brand may not seem like a sustainable alternative at first instance. They don’t even market it as sustainable. But it’s locally sourced which makes a big difference in source, transportation, and carbon footprint. If Wholefoods could just offer it in reusable glass bottles it would be an even better alternative. Fiji Water is currently using a 25% rPet bottle and has committed to increasing it to 100% rPet bottle by 2025. Due to criticism, investments have been made in renewable energy but in proportion to the total carbon footprint, it’s marginal.Rainwater is mostly naturally clean today unless you live in a heavily polluted area, and when harvested as it falls, requires significantly less processing. The closed-loop process by Richards Rainwater allows them to clean 100% of rainwater with virtually zero waste. Richards Rainer mainly uses glass and aluminium bottles with the goal of always recycling or reusing them. Pure Life is manufactured in two locations in North America and then shipped across Canada and the US for consumption. The biggest controversy has been the extraction of so much water from the small village in Aberfoyle, Ontario. Considering that Pure Life is primarily purified municipal water it’s not really much of a sustainability issue. What are the top 10 most sustainable water bottle brands in the world? Can bottled water even be sustainable?

Bold, punchy and all-natural flavourings, Radnor Splash is a nation favourite for everyday hydration. Coca-Cola announced its GLACÉAU Smartwater bottles will be made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET) by 2020. Choose from six fabulously fruity flavours: Orange and Passionfruit, Apple and Raspberry, Lemon and Lime, Strawberry and Peach. But in case you have to buy bottled water then here’s a guide to which brands and types of bottles you should buy.

Marketed as a bottle that is eco-friendly and seventh is simply putting the company name “People” on the bottle. The last two components actually have to do with the water itself. Eighth, People Water states that they only use 100% natural spring water. The final component is that the water remains Bisphenol A (BPA) free. Aquafina claims to be more sustainable by cutting down the PET plastic used in their bottles by 40% since 2005 but so has every other water bottle brand. SmartWater has been using up to 30% plant-based plastic in some of the bottles. Coca-Cola claims this has avoided the CO2 emissions equivalent of taking nearly 1 million vehicles off the road since 2009. Since introducing PlantBottle, Coca-Cola has allowed non-competitive companies to use the technology and brand in their products –from Heinz Tomato Ketchup to the fabric interior in certain Ford Fusion hybrid sedans. This is a net positive. But in 2019 Transportation is a big part of the CO2 footprint of bottled water. Therefore we cannot include Fiji water shipped from Fiji to the United States among the top 10 most sustainable bottled water brands. Generally, local brands score better in terms of sustainability simply due to transportation.

One of the first bottles made of 100% recycled PET plastic and fully recyclable. Bottles made of 100% recycled PET are currently limited to 50 and 75 cl though and not the larger sizes. Highland Spring is sourced in a sustainable way and also investing in rail freight to transport the bottles in an environmentally sustainable way and reduce carbon footprint. Most bottles are sold locally in the UK avoiding long transportation. CO2 footprint – Initiatives by the company/brand to offset carbon footprint, material, and water waste Coca-Cola markets Smart Water as bottled water with electrolytes including ionized minerals such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Basically, the minerals you find in most tap water. This is not very surprising considering that Smartwater is manufactured by distillation of public tap water locally in each market. Similar to Just Water Boxed Water but now made of 92% of plant-based materials. Over the past couple of years, Boxed Water has run a social media campaign resulting in over 1 million trees being planted and thereby offsetting much of its carbon footprint related to production and transportation. Sustainability is part of the mission. Boxed Water also works with Ocean Blue with the goal of cleaning up 3000 miles of beaches. The water is sourced regionally (currently from two locations) from municipal water to avoid long transportation. The plastic in our oceans could circle the planet 400 times. It is threatening marine ecosystems and contributing to climate change. About 54 percent of plastic bottles are recycled (according to the bottled water industry). In 2018 less than 20% of the content of new bottles came from recycled material. If you are going to buy a plastic bottle, buy one with high recycled content. Glass bottles are perceived as more sustainable but they are actually only better than single-use plastic if the bottles are reused at least 3-4 times.

The following big bottled water brands were also analyzed on their sustainability but didn’t make the top 10 list.

The main goal of the company is to provide clean water to people who are in need of it similar to Tom’s shoes.