Also betrayed by Nalgene!

katyfarber — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:44:00 -0500

Thanks for spreading the word about BPA. I was also appalled that my trusted Nalgene, taking me up mountains, to college classes and now my own classroom, is toxic.

I just posted a BPA roundup of information on my site, Non-Toxic kids at www.non-toxickids.net.

I know this isn't the last we'll hear about this!

Thanks for sharing info about Camelbak

Elana Centor — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:48:27 -0500

Please continue to share as you get more info.

elana
Blogher Contributing Editor,Business&CareersFunnyBusiness

Camelbak water bottles affected too

Amy Gates — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:00:43 -0500

I was so frustrated to find out last week that the Camelbak water bottles my whole family (including my 1 and 3 yr old children) has been using also contain BPA. For some reason I never thought to investigate it. I try to be informed about anything and everything regarding their safety and health, but I clearly dropped the ball here. :(

Camelbak's bottles will be all BPA-free as of 5/1/08, but that doesn't do me or my kids any good now.

Amy

Crunchy Domestic Goddess

BlogHers Act contributing editor

yikes

Carmen S — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:01:02 -0500

The water bottle I drink out of every day - and I refill three times a day - is a #7. 90% of the drinking glasses that are in my cabinet are 6's and 7's.

Ye Gods. What has been going on?

But, wait - I get to go shopping for new dishes!

Plastics

mama2bna — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:41:00 -0500

It is maddening to live in today's world, where there is so much information, so much intelligence, all of it challenging us to make the wisest choices we can. Time and again companies prove that until pushed, or revealed, they won't do the the right thing, the *wisest* thing for them being to stay quiet. I applaud the move Nalgene and others are making, even if it is because their hands were tipped ever so slightly.

The company I work for has been researching alternatives to the the plastic used in the handles of its product. We've just confirmed with out manufacturer that we can begin the process of implementing safer plastics. It is a cost, bot in time and money, but damn if it doesn't feel incredible.

Thank you for this post!

Amanda

http://hibernate.sarabearco.com

Amanda

http://lifewithbriar.blogspot.com

http://toddlywinks.blogspot.com

social media empowers consumers

chickable — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:31:25 -0500

I couldn't agree more that social media is motivating corporations to
be proactive or at the very least, hyper reactive to negative events.
For example, my husband recently returned a cell phone he purchased
online. When he never received the $299 refund he inquired only to
discover the return packaging was allegedly damaged. He was now out 1 cell
phone and $299. He responded by blogging about the company's shoddy
business practice and as a result, the refund was granted. Social media
is a great channel for dissatisfied customers.

Maria
Chickable
Life's a Chick Trip

Nalgene Buckles To Consumer Pressure: Recalling All Water Bottles With BPA

Elana Centor — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:51:12 -0500

If the bottom of your Nalgene bottle has a number 7 in the middle of the recycling symbol, you probably want to rethink drinking out of it.Same goes for any plastic bottle. Think baby bottles in particular.

Last week Canada banned the chemical behind the "7" -- BPA(Bishpenol A)in baby bottles ...making it the first country to ban the chemical.

The numbers 3 and 6 aren't much better --they indicate the product has a chemical similar to BPA.

Canada's decision has had an amazing domino effect on companies in the U.S. From Non-Toxic Kids

Oh, Canada! How you act so quickly. While it takes our congress years to reform the CPSC, you move in one week to ban BPA from all baby bottles. You have the honor of being the first country to ban BPA (I thought the EU would win on this one). And look what you have started--

lWhat Katy Farber was referring to is this article from The Washington Post which reports that American companies are doing something they are not known to do --the are being proactive and declaring that they will stop manufacturing products with BPA.

Wal-Mart Canada began pulling all baby products containing BPA from its shelves this week, and the chain said it plans to stop selling products containing BPA in U.S. stores by next year. Playtex said it would offer free non-BPA bottles to parents and will stop using BPA in all products by year's end. Nalgene, the maker of reusable water bottles that are popular among athletes, said yesterday it would discontinue production of bottles made with the chemical and recall existing products already in its stores.

The move in Canada adds pressure on U.S. federal regulators to reexamine their position on BPA, which is suspected of causing breast and prostrate cancer, diabetes, hyperactivity and other serious disorders in laboratory animals. This week, a federal health panel in the United States for the first time expressed concerns about BPA.

It is Nalgene--not the baby bottle manufacturers who has been getting bad press over the BPA controversy. That's because until very recently, Nalgene was a staunch advocate claiming BPA poised no risk to humans.

As Z Recommends wrote on April 10, 2008 . she believes Nalgene got nervous after the Today Show ran a segment citing Nalgene as a brand to avoid.

I'm sure Nalgene was taking the temperature across the internet, and saw an alarming amount of interest being generated out of the show.

Yesterday afternoon Nalgene launched a new website, Nalgene Choice, to showcase two new lines, one plastic and the other stainless steel, as well as a variety of other specialized drinkware products made of a laundry list of BPA-free plastics - polyethylenes (HDPE, LDPE, PET) and even some polypropylene food storage containers aimed probably at outdoorsy types.

The website offers detailed information about each product's temperature ranges, durability, and BPA status, falling just short of actually stating that their keystone polycarbonate bottle contains BPA.

Our assumption is that this site has been ready for weeks or even months and Nalgene had a planned, well-choreographed launch that they abandoned to seize on this moment of intense scrutiny and bad press.

The site is suddenly live, with a fresh press release to accompany it, but the new bottles do not yet appear to be available for sale.

The new plastic water bottles are made of a hard, clear plastic called Tritan copolymer, a BPA- and phthalate-free plastic that chemical company Eastman claims features a level of durability and clarity similar to polycarbonate.

The plastic is currently used in Camelbak's new BPA-free alternative to its own polycarbonate water bottle; the BPA-free version is called the Better Bottle with Classic Lid, and Camelbak explicitly promotes it as a BPA-free alternative.

The company also plans to switch its more popular Bite Valve model from polycarbonate to Tritan copolymer sometime this spring. [Great digging, Alwaysalli!] We are looking into this new plastic and will let readers know if we learn about any chemical and potential estrogenic properties that might suggest caution.

From MSNBC,

What is so dramatic about the decisions by Nalgene, Wal-Mart and Playtex to recall these products is that they are recalling products before someone said "you have to recall these products."

That would never have happen prior to the era of social media.

In the past, companies have taken a wait and see strategy. They would never have caved on an unproven risk until they absolutely had to. But that was before what Charlene Li describes as "The Groundswell."

The decision by American companies to proactively recall products (Okay the Canadians gave them a big push but when have American companies been swayed by Canadian policy before?) demonstrates a major shift in the relationship between companies and consumers.

It is a momentous shift.It is a dramatic sift. Forgive me, but it is the quintessential paradigm shift.

Consumer attitudes are finally getting their rightful place at the conference room table.

What consumers are saying --and the are saying a lot on blogs,Twitter,Facebook and other social media sites--is finally getting heard by businesses Businesses are paying attention and making policy decisions based on consumer input. This is exactly what social media consultants have been advising businesses to do. It will be fascinating to watch this new business environment unfold.

A couple of months ago I was planning a visit to see my daughter in Vancouver. The day before I left she gave me an assignment : stop by Midwest Mountaineering and pick up the new blue Nalgene because she had lost her favorite one. My daughter is very attached to her Nalgene. I didn't pick up just one bottle. Knowing her attachment I picked up two.

The first thing she asked when she got into my rental car that afternoon, " Did you bring my Nalgene."

She is going to take the news very hard that her favorite water bottle could be harming her. Berit is not alone in her love affair with this water bottle . On Saturday, the blogger behind meloukhia.net wrote an ode to her relationship with her Nalgene that began when she was a freshman in college: Plastic Friends.

Some excerpts:

I missed the bottled water craze because of my Nalgene. Why buy bottled water when I already had a bottle of perfectly palatable water, ready to hand?

I’ve accidentally left it clipped to my pack and watched my bag skid across 150 feet of tarmac at an airport after being misthrown, leaving one small scratch on the bottle. It’s been carried on hikes, refilled from mountain streams, frozen, and run through a garbage disposal by accident (there’s a small scratch on the bottom).

When I had real jobs where I went to work somewhere, my Nalgene always came with me, and people could tell when I was working because they would see it perched on the counter, or near my workstation.

My Nalgene and I have been through the wringer. That water bottle has more frequent flier miles than most people I know, and it’s been present through thick and thin

I think it’s safe to say that my Nalgene is one of my oldest friends, and that’s why I was sad to learn that the plastic it is made from is apparently toxic. People have had their suspicions about BPA for years, but I guess it’s official now.

It's final week at my daughter's college. I don't have the heart to tell her the bad news about her Nalgene. It can wait a few more days. But then again, she does go to college in Canada and I have a feeling she already knows but isn't ready to talk about it.

Breaking up is so very hard to do.

Elana writes about business culture at FunnyBusiness