Business Idea of the Day

Inhabitat: Bottled water is anathema to many hardcore environmentalists. Taking water from the land and sky, putting it into containers made from oil, and shipping it around the world defies core eco-friendly values in many ways. Yet premium bottled water producer FIJI Water is aggressively marketing itself as green. You may have seen ads with the slogan “Our Promise, Our Progress” or “Every drop is green” and images of a bottle of FIJI Water next to a big green earth. On the bottle itself, the iconic hibiscus flower is now joined by a prominent green water droplet, and the back of the bottle invites you to visit FIJIGreen.com to find out more about the environmental impact of the water you’re drinking.

FIJI Water became the first bottled water company to publish its carbon footprint in 2007. Since then, the company has emphasized its commitment to the environment and transparency.

FIJI Water says its product is actually carbon negative, claiming the production of a single one-liter bottle equals results in the reduction of 115 grams of CO2 equivalent units (eq). The company plans to reduce its CO2 emissions by 25% over the next three years, convert to 50% renewable energy by 2010, and is pursuing recycling and reforestation programs on the island of Fiji.

Environmental stewardship has always been a core value for FIJI Water. The breadth and depth of our sustainable growth program cannot be thrown together in the course of a few months in response to a magazine article. You can’t save the largest rainforest in Fiji overnight – not if you want to do it right!

Fiji’s commitment to environmental stewardship is why the company decided over a decade ago to make the bottle square instead of round – to be able to pack more product into a shipping container. The square bottles result in 10% fewer shipping containers than would otherwise be required.

IS IT GREEN?: FIJI Bottled Water [Inhabitat]

Source: Environmental Stewardship for FIJI Water

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