PSA

[lapsedmodernist]

Sigg admits their bottles lined with BPA-containing epoxy.

Which apparently they swapped for a new BPA-free epoxy this summer...so if your Sigg bottle is from before this summer, it's not BPA-free. Since I know at least some of you have bought Siggs for your kids because they market themselves as BPA-free, you should be aware of this.

Personally, I love my Kleen Kanteen. It's plain stainless steel. Not as cute as the Siggs, but hey what can you do. Water out of it tastes great, though.

Comments

[flintultrasparc.livejournal.com]

*taking a swig out of his 2 year old SIGG water bottle*

Well shit.

*looks inside at coppery lining*

Shit.

Am I going to die?

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic...

[flintultrasparc.livejournal.com]

Neither can I.

I read a bunch of how untrustworthy SIGG is.

I read a bit about how whichever group didn't think that the problem was that much of a problem.

But I would like to know, how much of a problem is BPA?

[heresiarch.livejournal.com]

BPA doesn't appear to leach much into cold drinks, and it's mostly a risk to fetuses and small children (because it's an endocrine-disruptor).

so, don't put hot liquids in your bottle, don't share with small children, and you should be fine.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

I think it is primarily something I am concerned about with wee ones, but Norway has banned it altogether, and Canada has banned it in any products for children and declared it toxic, and I feel that those two nations generally care about consumer health...

[heresiarch.livejournal.com]

suddenly i'm glad i listened to latemodel when he told me he was suspicious of Sigg for not disclosing what their epoxy lining is made with.

i love our kleen kanteen too, although stainless is heavy. i've read some arguments that stainless steel bottles are in some ways worse than plastic because of the process involved to manufacture them (and stainless in general), and the weight of transporting them (carbon-footprint wise). i'm suspicious of any logic, though, that promotes plastics over other materials, since in the long run we should have alternative energy sources, but nothing's going to make all that plastic magically degrade, or replace the petroleum needed for making it.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

I had a Sigg but then I noticed that the lining started to peel, and then the water started tasting weird, a little metallic, so I ditched the Sigg for good and got myself a Kleen Kanteen. Agreed on the stainless vs. plastic.

[flintultrasparc.livejournal.com]

"but nothing's going to make all that plastic magically degrade, or replace the petroleum needed for making it."

Nothing? Nothing? NOTHING? Nothing, tra la la?

No magic required. Only SCIENCE!

This kid from Ottawa seems to have discovered bacteria that seems to degrade Polyethylene.

Bioplastic aren't based on petroleum. There are, ofcourse, criticisms; but a lot of them seem to relate towards the existence of the existing petroleum economy, which bioplastic could be separate from--and concerns about the current economic system in regards to feeding human beings.

For water bottles, I think something I use as much as my water bottle probably should be something like stainless steel. There are probably some good uses for plastics.

I will look into this Kleen Kanteen; particularly if my Sigg gets the problems that Nica's does.

[heresiarch.livejournal.com]

that would be great if someone develops a good way to make plastic biodegrade quickly. still, any solution would need to be backwards compatible with landfills, and be able to address problems like the vast amounts of plastic pellets in the pacific gyre, or the environmental impact of plastic bags that get into the water, and so forth. none of which would address many of the more toxic processes required to manufacture some plastics (like PVC).

my partner points out that the value of plastic is precisely its resistance to degrading, so perhaps a better solution is to stop relying on it for disposable products.

you're also right that there are new alternatives to petroleum-derived plastics -- we use some of them because many places in san francisco have switched to bioplastics for food containers and suchlike, and they are in theory compostable (which presumably is only effective if you separate biodegradable trash from anything non-biodegradable). have those yet been used to replicate other kinds of synthetics, like polyester, polyurethane, or nitrile?

[flintultrasparc.livejournal.com]

When I say "there are probably some good uses for plastics", I mean less like disposables products and more like Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) that is used in the Eden Project.

It's got that durability latemodel is talking about!

"Compared to glass, it’s 1% the weight, transmits more light, is a better insulator, and costs 24% to 70% less to install. It’s also resilient (able to bear 400 times its own weight, with an estimated 50-year life-span), self-cleaning (dirt slides off its nonstick surface), and recyclable." The Miracle Polymer for the New Millennium

I agree that the plastic continent is a major problem. It's one thing that young Mr. Burd has a bacteria that can degrade it more quickly, we still have to do something about it and I can't imagine we'd get it to work while floating in the Pacific.

I have a lot of respect with how much recycling and composting San Francisco does. It should be a model for every city in America. The Green Composting Cart should be replicated. Since your city is on the edge for bioplastic adoption to, I'm hoping it'll develop a good system for dealing with that waste as well.

There is bio-derived polyethylene; and biopolymer poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a polyester. I don't know about bio alternative to nitrile.

[flintultrasparc.livejournal.com]

Just to bring this discussion back to BPA by way of plastic decomposing in Oceans, here is an article I just read:

Plastics in oceans decompose, release hazardous chemicals, surprising new study says

[starkyld.livejournal.com]

I have what I *think* is a straight-up stainless steel thermos brand container. I'm rather attached to it, but please let me know if you're aware of any reasons Ishould be skeptical.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't know, I assume if it's just 100% stainless steel it's fine?

[pivovision]

unbelievable... i considered getting a sigg a few years ago, but when i read that bit about how they couldn't disclose what the liner was made from, i definitely smelled a rat. i have trained myself to just drink out of glasses at home/work and not carry water with me everywhere, which was a hard habit to break. but the kleen kanteen sounds interesting...

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

Klean Kanteen is great. http://www.kleankanteen.com/
I have the classic model that's just plain metal. They some cute colors; no cute designs like Sigg, but also no BPA!

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

off-topic, I love that icon. Where is the photo from? Is it one of yours?

[pivovision]

that icon is from the film "Brand Upon the Brain!" by Guy Maddin... one of my most favorite of his movies. :)

[redheadedmuse.livejournal.com]

fuckers. I'm blogging this.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

You were one of the people I was thinking of when I read this, and was trying to remember, Rio has a Sigg, right? A pink one?