Bluewater, a purpose-driven water company providing leading-edge water purification technology solutions for homes, businesses, and public dispensing, told attendees at the recent international ‘The Future Is Water’ symposium in Amsterdam that single-use plastic bottles should be viewed as ‘public enemy number one’.
Speaking in early November at the symposium that was themed ‘Using the Power of Sport to Make a Sustainable & Environmental Impact’, Bluewater spokesperson Dave Noble said that throwaway plastic bottles deserved the epithet due to the pollution and contamination created during production, transportation and post-use leaching of chemicals and microplastics from plastic waste dumped in the oceans and landfills.
“Single-use plastics have for years been fouling our oceans and rivers with micro-particles and toxic, hormone-changing chemicals,” Dave Noble told The Future is Water Symposium audience. He said one of the consequences of the unrestrained use and disposal of throwaway plastic bottles over the past few decades is that microplastics are now everywhere, in the air, our food, and the water we drink.
Recent research has underlined the pervasiveness of microplastics with particles now being found in the poop of new-born babies. It has been estimated that over 17,500 tonnes of plastic enter seas around the planet every year, breaking down into micro-plastics and leaching chemicals such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which have been linked to various illnesses such as breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, obesity, asthma, and learning disorders.
Bluewater, founded in 2013 by Swedish environmental entrepreneur Bengt Rittri, has made taming the monster of plastics pollution a core part of its mission by harnessing human ingenuity to research and develop sustainable solutions that events, and festivals, can use to create healthier, more sustainable lifestyles and practices.
Dave Noble said that Bluewater’s journey in bringing transformative water purifying innovation to events like the British Open golf tournament which in 2019 ended the sale of plastic bottles previously sold at the event, has developed a new hydration business model that is already shaping habits and driving change at festivals around the world.
“By leveraging the power of sporting and other events to shape public opinion, we are bringing a new sense of purpose to hydrating large numbers of people. That’s why Bluewater refill stations are becoming a regular sight at events where organisers want to reduce their environmental footprint with sustainable hydration initiatives, from the British Open to the Cape Town Marathon, and the Transat Jacques Varbre in France, to name just a few,” said Noble.
He noted Bluewater’s innovation, sense of purpose, and mission are aligned with ensuring event organisers not only can provide large-scale sustainable hydration solutions, but also to ensure they can do so in a commercially beneficial way.
Refill stations and refillable bottles from Bluewater meet new demands from the event industry, from promotional messaging and digital signage to powerful new water purifier systems, individualised sport-activity-specific remineralisation programs, and totally sustainable bottles. And, the latest generation of Bluewater bottles are zero plastic – made from stainless steel, use only silicone liners and carry loops, and warrantied to last a hundred years.
“With our bottles and point of use hydration solutions, we believe we are doing our bit as a business to conserve nature for future generations. And helping events and festivals with our hydration solutions to also do their bit for a cleaner, better, greener world,” Noble said.