Corn Bottle

Made from corn resin, refill and reuse up to 90 times
BPA-Free!
Now comes with wrap-around cardboard packaging and no label, so cutomization is easy!

This bottle is made from 100% US-grown corn PLA (polylactic acid), which at this time is a mixed stream of non-GMO (genetically modified) and GMO corn

The Better Water Filter is carbon-based and removes chlorine and organic contaminants from regular municipal tap water.

There are many possibilities for the future of this product. I know so many people who are starting to use reusable water bottles (like the SIGG aluminum bottle), but they don't particularly want to fill it with municipal tap water. With this new corn-based PLA bottle, you get a filter, so you can confidently drink tap water without worry of chlorine and other contaminants.

Additionally, this new plastic may help to reduce our dependency on oil, though there is still debate over how much better PLA plastic is than PET, since the growing of corn is so energy-intensive. Made from corn instead of petroleum, PLA (polylactic acid) is the new thing in plastics. It is compostable in about 80 days a commercial composting environment (140 degrees or hotter). Even though PLA takes much longer to decompose in a landfill, it is still enormously better for the environment than PET plastic, which is destined to hang around or thousands of years. About 65% less energy/ natural resources is used during the manufacture of PLA as compared to PET.

Read more about this new PLA plastic on my blog post:
"A Closer Look at Corn Resin PLA Plastic"

There has been much debate surrounding these bottles for a number of reasons:

These bottles cannot be recycled with PET bottles! Please do NOT include them in with your recycling. Because of a lower melting point, they gum up the recycling machines and cause major problems for recycling centers. At this time, there are currently no PLA recycling systems in place, so we need to pressure local recycling centers, NatureWorks LLC (the manufacturer of this plastic), and New Wave Enviro (the manufacturer of these bottles) to get moving on viable PLA recycling programs!

The corn used to produce these bottles is a mixed stream of GMO and non-GMO corn (GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms). GMO species are wreaking havoc on our ecosystems, and should be avoided at all costs. According to NatureWorks, if there is a demand for PLA from non-GMO sources, they will provide it, so we must raise our voices and let them know we do not want to have ANY GMO-corn used for this innovative new product. NatureWorks can be reached at 1-800-664-6436, and New Wave Enviro can be reached at 1-800-592-8371.

These bottles do not really biodegrade in a landfill setting, so what is the best way to dispose of them? I have read some studies that show these bottles decompose fairly quickly in typical compost piles, as long as the internal temperature of the pile reaches 140 degrees F. This spring (2008) we are going to begin a composting experiment to measure the rate of decomposition of PLA bottles in a regular composting environment. Watch for updates soon!! In the meantime, please pressure your local Department of Waste Management to create city/town composting that could include PLA.

NOTE: The designation on the bottom of these bottles is a #7. Although this category has been flagged recently as "dangerous" plastics, please note that the #7 designation simply means "all other plastics that do not fit into categories 1-6". So, although many #7 plastics should be avoided because they have been found to contain Bisphenol-A (BPA), PLA plastic DOES NOT contain any BPA whatsoever.

 

STARS: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars for eco-friendliness
COMMENTS: This product targets three major environmental concerns: the use of petroleum to create plastics, the incredible waste involved in disposable plastic bottles that we use once and throw away, and the chlorine and other toxins in our drinking water. We have here a reusable water bottle made from corn, not petroleum, that comes with its own filter, making it ideal for filling with regular old tap water.

Additionally, New Wave recommends using this bottle for about 90 uses, then replacing, which means you can get a new, clean bottle, and avoid potential bacterial build-up that can occur over time in polycarbonate bottles. And you don't have to feel guilty when you finally do throw it out!!

We would like to stress that the agribusiness of corn has had some devastating effects on the environment, particularly the toxic contamination of our land from pesticides and fertilizers, and the threat to biodiversity from genetically modified organisms. We at The Greater Green do not feel this bottle is the perfect solution, by any means, but that if we continue to address these issues, there is great eco-potential for PLA. For the above reasons, we have bumped down the Green Screen Rating to 3 1/2 stars. But if the choice is between PET plastic bottles and PLA plastic bottles, we believe PLA to be a better alternative at this time. And, of course, reducing plastic use is the best solution of all!

So how does this corn plastic work? First, after corn is milled, dextrose is extracted from the starch. The starch is then turned into lactic acid (a by-product of fermentation and, in animals, respiration) using large fermenters. The lactic acid is then converted to lactide, and the lactide is linked into long chains or polymers, known as polylactic acid (PLA). Though it cannot replace polyethylene terephalate (PET) in every application because of lower melting point, there are still many possible applications. One major benefit of PLA is that it is compostable- and here's the catch - under commercial composting conditions, which means a composting facility that can maintain an internal composting temperature of 140 degrees for ten days straight (so you would not want to throw PLA into your backyard compost). Unfortunately, in a landfill, though no one is certain,  it is predicted that PLA might last almost as long as PET. Currently there are about 118 commercial composting facilities around the country. This is definitely a number that needs to be expanded.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
We have been spending some time researching both the benefits and drawbacks of PLA plastic, as well as the issue of using corn-based ethanol as an alternative fuel. We do not support the idea of corn-based ethanol as a viable alternative fuel, because there are so many other options for cars (hydrogen fuel cell, electric, solar, hybrid) that are more beneficial. We have not been able to find a better alternative to PET plastic, however. In an ideal world, we would eliminate plastic altogether, but we realize that for now, that is just not going to happen. We continue to support the continued development of biofriendly plastics while encouraging the reduction of plastic use.