Mommy Goes Green

Bottle look familiar?  A couple days ago, I received an email from one of my favorite online stores, The Soft Landing.   Unfortunately, the news was not good.  They reported that SIGG, a manufacturer of children and adults stainless steel water bottles, had recently released a statement noting that until August 2008, the liner of their water bottles contained BPA.

I couldn’t remember when I has purchased the SIGG bottle for my toddler but was sure it was prior to August 2008.  Sure enough, the liner was a bronze color, indicating that it was the old liner – with BPA.  How frustrating!  Just when you think you can trust a company, you find out they’ve been hiding the truth for a long time.  Apparently, SIGG has always responded to questions about BPA in their bottles with the response that their ‘bottles don’t leach BPA’.  I guess that should have been the first clue.  If they can’t say ‘our bottles DO NOT CONTAIN BPA’ flat out, then there is a good chance they do ( or that they don’t even know themselves ). 

SIGG’s new bottles have an ‘EcoCare’ liner that SIGG states is “powder-based, co-polyester coating has been thoroughly tested and is certified to be 100% free of BPA, phthalates, BADGE, BFDGE, and NOGE”.   SIGG is also offering to replace old bottles at their expense.   I emailed them directly and requested a replacement and received a prompt response with instructions on how to return the old bottle (for recycling) and in turn, received a code to purchase a new bottle from their website, with free shipping.

Sounds easy, huh?  The catch….now I’m not sure I want a replacement.  I think I might want a refund to find a new bottle.  There are lots of great bottles out there that I feel more confident about.  ZRecs is reporting people that are experiencing problems with the new ‘EcoCare’ liner – pieces are chipping away from the liner right where you put your lips.  What’s next?

If you have a SIGG bottle, make sure to check the liner to see if it contains the old BPA liner or the new EcoCare liner.  Another ZRecs reader reported receiving a bottle with the old BPA liner as late as last month, so you know some companies are still selling the old bottle.  To see which liner you have, view pictures here.  It was very obvious to me that the liner in mine was the copper colored one – with BPA.

If you do have a bottle with the old BPA liner, decide whether you want a replacement or refund and contact SIGG.   If you choose to get a refund and find a new bottle, check out The Soft Landing.  They have tons of choices and you can feel good about your purchases there.  These ladies are constantly checking the safety of products and are great to notify you if they find out anything negative.