I know, this is no fresh news... Sigg's CEO, Steve Wasik, revealed about 3 weeks ago that the lining of its water bottles contained BPA up until August 2008. The Blogosphere has been vibrating all over with this news and with good reason! It is perplexing to me that this company let people buy their products knowing they were cashing in on a false assumption that their products did not contain any BPA. In a letter that Steve Wasik published last week on the Sigg website in response to the controversy he wrote:
I have learned much over the past 2 weeks. I learned that many of you purchased SIGG bottles - not just because they were free from leaching and safe - but because you believed that SIGGs contained no BPA. I learned that, although SIGG never marketed the former liner as “BPA Free” we should have done a better job of both clearly communicating about our liner as well as policing others who may have misunderstood the SIGG message.
I find it surprising that he did not make the connection between presumably higher than usual SIGG sales and the BPA scare in the media. I find it a bit hard to believe that he did not know consumers were buying his bottles thinking it was BPA-free.
Four years ago, when we started our business, we contacted Sigg to get one sample and a price list. The company's Canadian representative sent us this HUGE and HEAVY box full of glossy marketing material when all we asked for was a sample. They shipped that box Express and they made us pay for the shipping which amounted to more than $150.00. When we asked for a partial refund of the shipping fees, we were flatly refused. Not a good start... When we asked the company what the lining was made of, the company replied that it was a trade secret but it was a vegetable-based epoxy that was perfectly food-safe. We did not like the secrecy and we stocked Klean Kanteens instead. Now the company is trying to convince us that its new lining, which is again a trade secret, is food-safe. I do not know if I want to take the risk...
Chantal Plamondon, co-owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com
I am sending 5 Sigg water bottles back for exchange. One of them is for my toddler granddaughter. I bought it for her because I trusted that it was safe. This really makes me angry.
Posted by: Linda Anderson | September 16, 2009 at 10:08 AM
I would like to honor your blog with the Kreativ Blogger Award. You can read more about it on my post and feel free to participate or not. I have enjoyed reading your blog since I first got into reducing plastic in my life. Thanks for the good work.
Posted by: Linda Anderson | September 17, 2009 at 01:45 PM
Hmm, bad move on Sigg's part definitly. You should check out ONE Water. It's a new eco friendly water that is made in a non-plastic fully recyclable carton. I found out about them at AskMelissa.com. Check out their write up here:
http://www.askmelissa.com/index.php/features/eco-moms_09-17-09
Posted by: Jenny | September 22, 2009 at 01:07 PM