Sustainable SIGG: Still the Best Water Bottle Around

Slowly but surely, people are beginning to understand the global impact of bottled water, not the least of which is the long term environmental impact of so much plastic being dumped into landfills. So, what are some good personal solutions? You could be like this person and build a home out of them -- or, for the frighteningly ambitious, perhaps a boat in which you could sail around the world promoting recycling.

Of course, the most important thing to do is simply stop using them -- and that's what millions of people are doing, choosing non-toxic reusable versions or, more recently, trendy but wonderful double lined metal bottles. These days you can pick one up at your local bookstore or discount store, but if you're really serious about your water, the original, the most beautiful, and extremely resiliant is the SIGG.

While many new companies now feature sleek and beautifully designed examples, the mother of all metal bottle companies is the swiss company that originated in 1908, when two Swiss metal specialists opened a factory outside Zurich, making cookwear and bottles. By the 1950s, SIGG was a popular European brand, but the water bottles did not "take off" until the 1990s when awareness of the global plastic and water crises became cause for personal and political action. The double-layered metal is more resilient, safer, and beautiful than all the knock-offs.

To alleviate health concerns, SIGG's s bottles have been tested beyond FDA standards. They contain a special, proprietary internal coating that is resistant to fruit juice acids, energy drinks, alcohol and virtually any consumable beverage. The liners are taste and scent neutral, eliminating any lingering smell or taste from previous beverages. The composition of the liner also reduces the chances of bacteria build-up.

Although we’ve been able to bang up the outside of a few, SIGG assures its customers that the interior is baked on and completely scratch and dent resistant. (But, one thing we learned the hard way -- as with all metal containers, NEVER put it in the freezer).

SIGG’s designs may be the hottest ones around – and they provide more variety of shape, color, and drinking spouts than any others we’ve seen – they are worth the extra money for the product assurances and longstanding value. Despite a recent penchant for the yoga-inspired designs and the website’s boast of 1,000 combinations, my new favorite is the retro silver or red models with the simple SIGG insignia on the bottom. Here’s to Swiss engineering yet again!

As if it isn't enough to love SIGG as it is, you can design your own bottle at CafePress, get one that will help Jane Goodall insure safe drinking water in Africa, or give your kids the Pirate themed lunch accessory that makes them the envy of the school lunch table. And if those reasons don't sell you on SIGG, consider sustainable labor, too. For over 100 years, SIGG bottles have been manufactured by a dedicated Swiss workforce. SIGG's website suggests that many other reusable bottle brands outsource their manufacturing to Chinese suppliers, whereas by making the bottles at a factory in Frauenfeld Switzerland, they insure the highest quality product standards and ethically and environmentally responsible labor, too.

Of Tea and Trade

Tea is both a luxury and a necessity.  A luxury since it cannot be grown anywhere near where I live (except for a small plantation in South Carolina).  A necessity because it carries me through the day, calms when I need calm and excites when I need energy.  

The venerable anthropologist Sidney Mintz, in his amazing book Sweetness and Power, charts the history and significance of sugar production since the Columbian Exchange, but he rightly suggests that we can't talk about sugar without talking about tea, the most important non-alcoholic beverage in the United Kingdom and many of its former colonial holdings.  Tea and sugar, produced through slave labor in the Caribbean, became the mainstays of the English working class, and yet they also represent the refined, the social, and the ceremonial.  In its history, though, controversies have always surrounded the labor used to produce tea.   Given that, it's actually no surprise to see a well-established fair trade movement for tea.  What is fair trade and what is organic, however, don't always connect.  

Convergences do happen: Zhena's Gypsy Tea, which has been at the forefront of the Fair Trade argument, just this week announced  that their new CEO would be Don Gaidano, who led Rachel's Organics and Horizon Foods in the last ten years.   This move comes at an important juncture in the fair trade and organic tea movement. While the acreage being dedicated to organic tea production has risen 44% in the last year, the issue of sustainable labor remains problematic.  Recent case studies and news from  a British Times investigative report suggest that workers on tea plantations in India, Sri Lanka,  Kenya, and Bangladesh are still working under colonial conditions with very little trickle-down of simple benefits like laundry baskets and gas cylinders for cooking.  

At the same time, Assam News in India reports that there is a growing international demand for certain teas, including the traditional Singpho tea, marketed as "Phalap" and grown in Guwahati, which is produced organically.  A joint venture by a local NGO and a private Canadian company, the goal of the project is also to get young workers involved in the overall production process.  It would be great to see that kind of initiative happening in the US market as well: the South Carolina plantation may have good labor conditions, but it is not organic.

One interesting fact about premium organic tea companies is that they are often run by young eco-entrepreneurs.  Two of my favorites, Ocean of Tea and Tea Guys, have energetic and enthusiastic owners who defy the image of staid English matrons or wizened Indian yogis sipping slowly.   While most of their items are well labeled (certified or not), feel free to ask about fair trade labor practices before you order.  Unlike the bigger companies, you will more than likely get an answer!

photo from the website: planet tea