bottle drama

Oh noes. The tofu hit the fan in my house after discovering that the lining in my SIGG water bottle - which I switched to after discovering my old Nalgene bottle contained bisphenol-A - ALSO contains BPA. Arg!

According to SIGG, all bottles manufactured after August of 2008 contain no BPAs, and bottles manufactured before that date contained some sort of chemical magic that bonded the BPAs so well that they didn't leach into the water. Hence (according to SIGG), all bottles should still be considered safe. HOWEVER, for a company that touted itself as the safe alternative to plastic water bottles and made loads of money selling children's bottles to scared parents, I am disgusted and appalled at this admission, and can no longer support this company.

While it's true that no one really knows to what extent BPAs are dangerous, they have been proven to hurt monkeys, which means they are most likely hurting me. And while it's also true that I am probably being inundated with BPAs on a daily basis since it's one of the most commonly used chemicals in the world, that doesn't mean that I need to knowingly increase my exposure, especially if I want children.

So, what to do about all this? First, if you are unsure whether or not your current SIGG's lining contains BPAs, then lookie here:

As you can see, there's a very clear color difference between the old liners and the new, (supposedly) BPA-free ones. Next, if you - like me - have made the unpleasant discovery that your bottle contains one of the old liners, then there's a few things you can do about it. SIGG is offering to replace old bottles with new ones at their expense. If you choose to go this route, you can email them directly here. I am considering a free switch, however, I also feel betrayed by this company and concerned with their lack of transparency, so I'm leaning towards recycling my old bottles and replacing them with a stainless steel version.

Baying Hound, a company out of Columbus, Ohio, is currently running a SIGG replacement program. Mail your old bottles to them (they will either recycle them or return them to SIGG), and they will mail you a 40% off coupon good for any of the stainless steel bottles they sell. I'm liking the Earthlust line. They are entirely BPA and aluminum free, contain a naturally safe unlined interior, are made with food-grade stainless steel, contain non-toxic paint, and the company is based in San Francisco, so you'd be supporting an American company. Also, they're gorgeous:

This is probably the route that I will go. (Orange birdie bottle, I got my eye on you...)

Am I making a big deal out of this? Perhaps. Am I throwing good money after bad? Maybe. However, the health of my family and friends is important to me, and since I turned a lot of folks on to SIGG in the first place, I feel obligated to share my concerns with you. From the sounds of it, the lining in the new SIGG bottles are safe, however the company won't share the recipe for their lining (supposedly due to fears of Chinese counterfeiters), so who can really be sure? Bottom line - I feel duped by this company and obligated to search out and share some options with my fellow SIGG users. Be warned. Be well.

(Bottle lining comparison image via Tree Hugger and initial H/T to The Consumerist.)