While we are all aware that we should only be using BPA-free, reusable water bottles, at least now there are some new, earth-friendly alternatives to traditional plastic bottles. 

Green Planet Bottling has introduced a 100-percent plant-based water bottle that is carbon neutral and toxin-free, compared to bottles contained both petroleum and BPA.  Green Planet water is vapor distilled for taste and purity, and the bottles are fully recyclable and compostable in 80 days.

Bottles returned to Green Planet are ground into flakes and then hydrolyzed to make new bottles.  Consumers can find Green Plant water in 16.9-ounce bottles at schools, select restaurants, corporate settings, hotels, and convenience stores. Twelve-ounce bottles are due out later this spring

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It all sounds very grandiose and really too good to be true, but a number of  Persian Gulf states, including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar are hoping to be able to satisfy a good portion of their massive energy needs through alternative and renewable energy sources, instead of relying mostly on oil.

In a part of the world that experiences some of the hottest summer temperatures, averaging above 44 degrees Celsius during at least 4 months of the year; and whose energy growth use is growing by more than 10% per annum, these countries have their work cut out for them to be able to realize 70% of their total energy needs  from alternative and renewable energy by the year 2030.

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“No doubts remain. Climate change is real and the build-up of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is increasingly at an alarming rate.” With these words, Rafael Quiroga, General Manager of Accion RSE, initiated the seminar “Corporate Strategic Management of Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions.” This is not another “green business” seminar from a European or North American city, it took place here — in Santiago, Chile.

The event brought together speakers from the Chilean private sector that gave concrete examples of their companies’ climate change and GHG management initiatives. First, it showed how Essbio, a water purification company, has been dealing with the ever-prescient and escalating challenges of decreasing water reserves due to climate change.  Second, it illustrated the emissions and energy reductions Xstrata Copper, a mining company, has committed to and the steps it has taken to minimize the release of contaminants in its industrial processes. Third, it explained what Natura cosmetics has done since 2007 to become a “carbon neutral” business by calculating all GHG emissions in the company’s supply chain, transportation, and production of its various cosmetics products, and purchasing the equivalent amount of CO2 tonnage in carbon credits on the international carbon markets.

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