Greenwash Alert! Pepsi’s ‘Eco-Fina’ Bottle

We got an interesting press release in our inbox this week announcing a supposedly eco-friendly bottled water.  PepsiCo has launched its new ‘Eco-Fina’ bottle, which uses 50 percent less plastic than regular water bottles, making it the lightest half-liter bottle of any nationally distributed bottled water on the market – and they want anyone with environmentally conscious tendencies to know about it. But is it really green?

From the press release:

At a weight of 10.9 grams, the Eco-Fina Bottle is made with 50 percent less plastic, eliminating an estimated 75 million pounds of plastic annually.  Aquafina is also driving additional environmental benefits by producing the bottle at purification centers where filling occurs and by eliminating cardboard base pads from 24-packs, which will contribute to saving 20 million pounds of corrugate by 2010.

The new bottle features an eye-catching “rippled web” design that goes beyond aesthetics, ensuring its structural soundness and functionality.  The Eco-Fina Bottle will be available in 24-packs and begins shipping to retail outlets nationwide this April.

IT’S A PLASTIC WATER BOTTLE. It’s not green. No, not at all – and what’s especially annoying about this sort of thing is the fact that millions of gullible customers will feel better about their bottled water habits when they buy this crap – “Oh, look, it’s ‘ECO’. I can keep buying bottled water without guilt!”

Plastic is a problem – only a small fraction of bottles actually end up getting recycled, they’re made using petroleum and there are absolutely no benefits to drinking water shipped from halfway across the country (or even the world, in some cases) as opposed to filtered tap water.  But bottled water is a huge revenue source for companies like PepsiCo, and of course they’re going to try to hang on to your money with all their might – hence greenwashing efforts like this one.

Link [Eco-Fina]