var json_comments = new Array("

$\"user-pic\"$

shepd

August 24, 2009 12:13 AM

Moderate | Flag for review

Ha! Everyone at work uses these things now. I don't get it. Everyone at my work has a desk job.

I'm the only tearaway--I bought a Star Trek glass last time I was a BK for $1.99. That's my work glass. It's lasted through the corporate dishwasher for months, and I expect it'll last a lot longer.

Let's see: It's 1/10th the price, it's made of a substance that has been known safe for centuries (no lead in this glass), and I don't have to do all kinds of contortions to get it washed (just pop it in the dishwasher at the end of the day with all the mugs).

Being a non-hippie/yuppie has lots of advantages. Another of them being that I own the most hunk-of-junk car on the parking lot, and I don't care. It's good on gas and still works.

17 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

eakwave1

August 24, 2009 6:46 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@shepd: OMG! OMG! It's like I wrote this myself! I'm a chick in a tech place (don't stare; I'm thin and have no zits) but... I'm a total trekkie with my mug and my purple clunker in the lot of BMWs and other hot rides.

Cheers! (clink) :-)

$\"user-pic\"$

sqlrob

August 24, 2009 6:18 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@shepd:
Didn't some of the McDonald's glasses from the 70's or 80's have lead?

$\"user-pic\"$

CFinWV

August 24, 2009 2:09 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@shepd: Well, goodie for you!

$\"user-pic\"$

Rectilinear Propagation

August 24, 2009 1:27 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I don't get it. Everyone at my work has a desk job.

@shepd: Um, I'm pretty sure human beings need to drink water even if they're just sitting down.

Everyone at my job has a water bottle (not a Naglene one, not sure who made these) because a while back they gave everyone one. They don't have to buy as many paper/plastic cups and we don't have to keep getting up just to get water.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 2:12 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Rectilinear Propagation: They probably don't, actually. Drinking with meals is sufficient to keep most sedentary folks adequately hydrated. The constant bottle-access is more a cultural shift than a genuine health need, and it's legitimately arguable that overall it's been more detrimental than helpful.

I'm not up in arms about it or anything--I find the bottles convenient at times myself, and Lord knows the coffee drinkers have been attached to a beverage wherever they go for years. But I don't think there really is much of an argument for it being necessary for most of us. We just like it.

$\"user-pic\"$

bohemian

August 24, 2009 11:42 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@shepd: You work in IT don't you.

The bonus of having a bottle on your desk is it won't spill on your keyboard or paperwork.

$\"user-pic\"$

shepd

August 24, 2009 8:27 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Good guess, and yes, I do work in IT. :o)

And for those that have bottles so they don't spill, or because they're free (although, for me, even free doesn't make it worth it if I can't use it in the dishwasher), that makes perfect sense. I'm also lucky enough to have a large enough desk that spills don't reach anything critical, and water doesn't require any extra cleaning after being mopped up [this is from experience].

However, those who bought bottles just for the hype, you know who you are... You're the people that drive me crazy, usually because you're the ones discussing your lovely new (insert item/fad of the week/month/year that improves over last week's item that somehow kills/makes insane) and I'm the one doing my best to smile and not roll my eyes.

I mention the desk job thing specifically to exclude those that use bottles because they're on the move. Clearly, you're not going to use a glass if you're a construction worker or a roving salesman. You'll use an old Gatorade bottle or thermally insulated coffee mug instead.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 12:17 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@bohemian: Agreed. The one day last week that I forgot my water bottle, I spilled a large cup of water all over my....keyboard and paperwork. D'oh.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 1:32 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@shepd: I like my water bottle to be portable. And spill-proof. Sigg has the spill-proof thing down with their sport tops, they're amazing. And the bottles are pretty. Mine is red and it has a tree. And birds.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 1:28 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@shepd: At my office, we're not allowed open glasses or coffee mugs. Everything has to be in containers with lids to protect the computers and other sensitive equipment against spillage. Nothing yuppie/hippie about it.

In fact, there's nothing hippie/yuppie-like in this entire article. It's an article about consumers not getting what they paid for. Why even bring it up?

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 6:28 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@bennilynn: This is very much a yuppie/hippie issue. Every year, there's a new \"issue\" that a certain segment of society (yuppies and/or hippies) must promote. Sometimes it's touting the wonders of hemp clothing as opposed to that awful, awful cotton that we've been using for over a century. Then they move on to positive parenting and how, despite years of evidence to the contrary, spanking kids will cause them to be maladjusted sociopaths when they grow up. After that, it's a issue about how non-filtered, not-out-of-a-bottle water will kill you or give you cancer or turn you into a zombie...with cancer that killed you - so you MUST buy a PUR or Britta filter and make sure your family NEVER drinks anything that's not from a bottle or through a filter. Today's new issue is this BPA thing. I'm not saying it's not harmless, but these fools will jump on any bandwagon that gives them the opportunity to tell someone else just how much healthier/smarter/eco-friendlier they are than the rest of the population. It's like some perverse version of Keeping Up with The Joneses; but instead of material items, it's more about \"I have a smaller carbon footprint than you\" (stolen from Stuff White People Like, by they way, but it's totally true)

$\"user-pic\"$

drrictus

August 24, 2009 5:26 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@RogerTheAlien: You're just being a hipster/doofus.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 25, 2009 12:13 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@drrictus: Hahaha. I know, right? Because I'm all up-in-arms about NOT being all up-in-arms.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 3:53 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@RogerTheAlien: Please visit the site:

stuffwhitepeoplelike.com

I think your views will line up perfectly with the site (and mine) and you'll get some good humor out of it as well.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 2:28 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@RogerTheAlien: I don't think you're wrong about the bandwagon effect, but I also don't think it matters all that much--as you note, it doesn't make it untrue. I'm more concerned about what gets overlooked as we focus on the current headliner.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 12:15 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@RogerTheAlien: Um, no. I like my Sigg bottle because it's spill-proof (like, actually spill-proof) and it has a pretty design on the outside. And it's pretty much indestructible. And I got it as a gift, so it was free.

I'm sorry you're so angry at the world.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 7:45 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@RogerTheAlien: So what? People buy what they want to buy. How do their consumer choices affect your life? It has nothing to do with you. The point is that SIGG has been charging a lot of money on the idea that their bottles are BPA-free, yet they are not. That's the Consumerist issue. It has nothing to do with yuppies or hippies or your smug disdain for people who make different choices than you.

$\"user-pic\"$

mon0zuki

August 29, 2009 12:45 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@dollywould: THANK you.

An analogy: I could see a similar situation with guns that, say, contained lead... And people would be pointing at those \"stupid rednecks\" for buying guns they \"don't need\" - because obviously, only \"stupid rednecks\" are going to EVER buy a gun.

Just because folks buy a sigg waterbottle or such doesn't mean they're a yuppie. Yuppies buy other things too. Like underwear. Doesn't make the underwear a yuppie product.

Hell, even uggs have some non-irritating buyers.

So why exactly are folks saying that the product (this product, specifically, and only one product versus a line or group) makes the stereotype, versus a stereotype possibly making up a proportion of a consumer base...?

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 12:38 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@dollywould: It's not that their consumer choices affect me, it's that this \"concern\" is all so seemingly disingenuous. Give it like a month or two, and people will be on to something else, ranting about how their life has been irreversibly altered for the worse by some other potentially-lethal product having completely forgotten about BPA. There's always some bandwagon to jump on, something to make headlines about and become a talking head about. And that's smug of YOU, dollywould (though that's a cool name, by the way), to assume that I'm faulting people for having differing opinions. Actually, your statement makes you a giant hypocrite; you're faulting me for supposedly faulting someone else for making different choices. Shouldn't I be entitled to my own opinions, too? Apparently not, by your standards.

@kastermonster: I'm not angry at the world. Sometimes you just gotta call \"shenanigans\" on people. Ask how many people actually knew what BPA was before the article. Probably not a lot. Ask how many actually TOOK steps to COMPLETELY eliminate BPA from their lives, not just crying wolf about Nalgene-type water bottles. Probably even fewer. It's just something to get worked up over that won't last. And since when did having a dissenting opinion or thinking someone was making mountains out of molehills amount to being \"angry at the world.\" Keep your generalizations to yourself, and I'll keep mine to MYself.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 5:09 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@RogerTheAlien: Do you really want to talk about generalizations? And I quote:

\"This is very much a yuppie/hippie issue. Every year, there's a new \"issue\" that a certain segment of society (yuppies and/or hippies) must promote.\"

I'm neither a yuppie nor a hippie. Plenty of people like Sigg water bottles for non-BPA reasons.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 4:56 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@RogerTheAlien: You're missing the point. Comparing everyone who happens to own a BPA-free water bottle as some sort of bandwagon-happy sheep is judgmental and smug. I'm just calling you on how your comment came across. It would be hypocritical if I was judging you for NOT owning a bottle. I don't care if you do or not. It's not my business.

And yes, I own (rather owned) a Sigg bottle. I am not concerned about BPA, but I'd rather not use a bottle advertising a company that's been lying to its customers. And no, I've never owned hemp anything and if I had kids, I would not be averse to punishing them. Just to round out your stereotype.

$\"user-pic\"$

italianscallion33

August 24, 2009 2:07 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@bennilynn: it does kind of have to do with yuppie people, a lot of whom probably buy BPA-free bottles because someone said it was good for them, without really knowing whether/why it was beneficial.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 1:06 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@shepd: I would bring my Batman glass to work, but it took me nearly forty years to find a replacement after I broke mine when I was five.

You have a DISHWASHER at work? Sweet!

$\"user-pic\"$

shepd

August 24, 2009 8:16 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Yes, we have a dishwasher. But then again, we have several hundred people per building (and a couple of hundred per floor), and a lot of buildings. :) So, it gets plenty of use.

$\"user-pic\"$

Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)

August 24, 2009 3:08 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@HogwartsAlum: I have a \"Kelly for Brickwork\" glass ... Grace Kelly's father was a bricklayer (and triple gold medalist, incidentally) who owned a company called \"Kelly for Brickwork\" and they used to do promo glasses back in the 40s. I'm almost afraid to even touch it! It's very faded from years in the dishwasher back when it was \"just another glass\" that my grandmother had b/c my grandfather was a contractor who sometimes used Kelly for his brickwork. :)

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 5:54 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): That \"Kelly for Brickwork\" glass is kind of awesome. My rinsed-out mayonnaise jar feels ashamed (though it comes with a lid!)

$\"user-pic\"$

Kimaroo - 100% Pure Natural Kitteh

August 24, 2009 1:06 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@shepd: Wow. I've never heard of a corporate dishwasher. My company only has a sink in the break room. We're just a two person office, though. I would bring my own water bottle (I love my Camelbak bottle) if my boss decided to stop ordering regular bottles. I don't think she will, though. We recycle them, so I figure that is good enough.

$\"user-pic\"$

Patches O'Houlihan

August 24, 2009 12:55 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@shepd:
Great points, but in the end you are still drinking from a Star Trek glass...... ;)

","

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 12:15 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

I much prefer to drink my water from a metal pipe in my home that has come a long distance from my local city water supply through an extremely old system of aqueducts.

Ya know, the water with the minute amounts of every single drug in existence.

That way, when I put it in my steel bottle, I know it's safe.

2 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 8:52 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@twophrasebark: Left wingnut. Right wingnut. Green wingnut: Only the dressing has been changed to protect the guilty.

Always the same thing: When running out of factual arguments, make fun of whomever disagrees with your position as to discredit their statements.

If you have a brain, use it - otherwise STFU: I think most folks have by know become aware of that tactic. Hopefully, anyway.

The effect of \"pure\" water in those nice bottles - aside from obvious mountains of empties littering the land, and the resources needed to produce them that could be better used elsewhere, and general abuse of workers and local population such as with Fiji water - are far from being healthy: Water without electrolytes is not the best for you.

Meanwhile most tap water is quite pure enough, as long as your municipality takes care of business. And if it does not, then perhaps citizen should get it to act now.

But I guess the easy way is best, and you simply prefer buying again what your taxes already paid for, from Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 2:03 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@twophrasebark: It's like a pharm-party in mah kitchen!

","

$\"user-pic\"$

gStein_*|bringing starpipe back|*

August 24, 2009 12:30 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

i still use my Lexan Coleman water bottle, purchased 2003-2004

4 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 2:08 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@gStein: I still use my old-school opaque-milky Nalgenes. Those ones don't have BPA--it's the clear colored ones that do.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 25, 2009 2:21 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@utensil42: I have a load of those for backpacking use but jesus if I can use them on a day to day basis - they end up tasting / smelling funky (Yes, I wash my bottles regularly). And once you put something in there other than water, you just can't get the funk out. Have you found a way? Bleach, boiling - nothing has worked for me.

$\"user-pic\"$

MauriceCallidice

August 24, 2009 10:59 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Hanshiro: It's the BPA that make's it tasty. (Kidding, but I do use a blue polycarbonate Nalgene narrowmouth and love it.)

@utensil42: The older non-polycarbonate ones weren't suitable for high temperatures, if I recall correctly. Not usually a problem unless you want to take along very hot fluids (coffee, soup) for outdoor activities in the cold. (I love the convenience of Nalgene's when camping/backpacking, although my non-BPA-free Sigg is lighter.)

$\"user-pic\"$

August 25, 2009 2:22 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@MauriceCallidice: Like Siggs, but all the stove oil for car camping is in Siggs. I'm rather accident prone. Best to not tempt fate.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 25, 2009 2:24 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@subtlefrog: Or I should say - in Sigg-looking bottles. Doubt they are actually Sigg.

$\"user-pic\"$

MauriceCallidice

August 25, 2009 10:57 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@subtlefrog: Once upon a time, Sigg was a fuel-bottle company. Somewhere along the way they decided to shift their focus to water bottles. MSR and others still make fuel bottles in the Sigg style however. If I used bottled fuel, I probably would skip the Sigg on those trips. As it is, I use a Snow Peak canister stove (which I love) so there's no chance of confusing fuel and water containers.

$\"user-pic\"$

MauriceCallidice

August 25, 2009 12:25 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@MauriceCallidice: Oh, and it's the extra apostrophe in \"make's\" that enhances the whimsicality of the post. Or something.

$\"user-pic\"$

Hanshiro

August 24, 2009 1:14 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Lexan is a registered trademark for SABIC Innovative Plastics' (formerly General Electric Plastics) brand of polycarbonate resin thermoplastic. Polycarbonate polymer is produced by reacting Bisphenol A with carbonyl chloride, also known as phosgene.

Just sayin'...

","

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 12:47 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

I just drink whatever bottle is convenient. If I switch to glass, something will be in it that will kill me. If I switch to bpa-free plastic bottles, something else in it will kill me. If I switch to steel cups, they'll discover that steel kills people. It doesn't matter anyway, because whether I'm drinking gatorade, lemonade, tap water, or virgin pixie sweat, they'll announce that something in it is killing me.

3 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 7:33 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@henrygates: Well said. I stopped listening to all this bull a long long time ago. It's wonderful today, then tomorrow \"research shows\" it'll cause three types of cancer and hair loss. OR, It'll kill you today, then a few years later, it's the best thing on earth for you.
Look at the current research on eggs. Now, they're better for you than anything else; full of healthy vitamins, minerals, vital nutrients, and have very little effect on cholesterol levels. I never stopped huffing them down by the dozens, and I'm glad I did.
//thumbs nose at researchers//

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 7:17 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@henrygates: Didn't you know?!?!?! Virgin pixie sweat contains asbestos! It WILL kill you!

$\"user-pic\"$

Shoelace

August 24, 2009 3:31 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@henrygates: And they'll announce it after any hope of remission or cure is long past.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

catastrophegirl chooses not to fly

August 24, 2009 12:48 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

my job always gives out branded schwag - two years ago was water bottles [that later turned out to contain BPA] and this year was steel water bottles. but fortunately ours aren't lined so i don't have to go look into this.
i have to say i like the steel one a lot better. it actually leaks less.

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 5:19 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@catastrophegirl: Unlined steel bottle here also. I forget the name of the company, but I like it a lot. Except when I forget it in the car, and it gets quite hot!

","","

$\"user-pic\"$

Sbrools

August 24, 2009 12:56 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Sigh, everything that exists is somehow out to kill me... I'm beginning to think that it would be easier if I just existed in a dark void, that way I could avoid all contact with matter (so I can avoid chemicals, and everyone knows that everything that is a combination of atoms in a specific pattern is BAD!), and light (which is radiation: BAD!) So yeah. I'm gonna go live my life floating in outer space. That way I won't be at risk from any of these harmful things, and there's ABSOLUTELY no flaws in my plan whatsoever.

3 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

Shoelace

August 24, 2009 3:38 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Sbrools: You could still get hit by an asteroid or some traveling potty waste dumped from the Space Station. And watch out for black holes - they're supposed to be very unhealthy if you get too close to them.

$\"user-pic\"$

Hanshiro

August 24, 2009 1:44 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Sbrools: Floating out in space? Won't that play hell with your oxygen addiction?

$\"user-pic\"$

Sbrools

August 24, 2009 3:01 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Hanshiro: Ahh, but oxygen is toxic in certain conditions such as higher partial pressures! OH NO! I can't be near anything that is remotely toxic! WHO WILL THINK OF THE CHILDREN!?!?!?

$\"user-pic\"$

morlo

August 24, 2009 3:59 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Sbrools: Oxidation is indeed killing you. The void you fantasize about is death itself, because really all along it was life that was killing you.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

dmbutler

August 24, 2009 1:00 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

I think it's interesting that a story about a potential health hazard in a product attracts so many comments from people who don't own it. Good for you! But seriously, this is a story about a company that lied to its consumers and misrepresented a product it sold, which is not good for any of us.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

Patches O'Houlihan

August 24, 2009 1:02 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

BPA is known problem. One of many items that is pervasive in society, pushed rapidly to consumers without proper testing. The Data is there to demonstrate the health hazards of BPA. Besides that, plastic bottles are a major threat to our planet. They do not decompose for many, many years. If you want to see what plastic bottles do check out this video:

5 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

Oranges w/ Cheese hates what Christmas has become

August 24, 2009 2:49 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Patches O'Houlihan: Oh god the turtle! The poor turtle! :(

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 2:14 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Patches O'Houlihan:
The plastic bottles are no threat to the planet. In fact in time the planet will not be impacted one little bit by humans. Get over it- You are mortal and the human race will not go on forever. Be a good steward of nature and stop claiming the planet needs saving, it doesn't.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 1:49 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@cecilsaxon: No but they threaten our way of life and the animals we need for survival. I agree the saving the planet line is a bunch of shit. They need to change it to something more personal. Like Save our damn ecosystem. or Save the Humans.

$\"user-pic\"$

Hanshiro

August 24, 2009 4:18 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@cecilsaxon: \"The plastic bottles are no threat to the planet.\"

*ding* We have some nice consolation prizes, thanks for playing....

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 8:59 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Hanshiro: \"The plastic bottles are no threat to the planet.\" Absolutely true. They can however be a threat to life on that planet.

The issue should never have been branded as 'Save The Planet\". Earthquakes, fires, tornados, global warming... None threaten the planet. But they do threaten to change the conditions on the planet to some far less hospitable to humanity.

\"Save The Human Race\" is far more accurate. However, since we do not look like cute little pandas, and have shown over time a great propensity for the most acute acts of stupidity and self destruction, it raises the question: Why are we worth saving?

I am not saying that we are not. But to avoid this reflection stinks of dogma.

$\"user-pic\"$

Hanshiro

August 24, 2009 9:56 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Ptath: Well played, sir.

I agree. My anxiety comes from the swath we'll carve through other species until we extinguish enough of ourselves to allow others to survive what's left. Depleted uranium is one amongst a host of uber-crazy human innovations.

As was said in \"The Matrix;\" We're less mammals than we are closer to a virus or cancer.

$\"user-pic\"$

Hanshiro

August 24, 2009 1:50 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Patches O'Houlihan:

Horrific.

The sooner we stop perpetuating the myth that the planet was made for us, the better for every other living thing...

","

$\"user-pic\"$

Magspie

August 24, 2009 1:04 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

I thought this was well known. When BPA first came on the radar, they wouldn't say whether their bottles contained it or not, so people thought they did. Then when they came out with new ones that they did claim to be BPA free it was pretty obvious that the old ones were not. I know a lot of people that avoided them because of it several years ago.

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

Digital_Headache

August 24, 2009 11:38 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Magspie:
The high ground for a company that has profitted so much from the BPA scare would be to offer FREE replacement bottles.
Any bets to see if they'll actually do this?
Let's coin a new term: \"Consumer Wacking\"

","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

cowboy_k

August 24, 2009 1:16 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Most (all?) SIGG bottles are aluminum, not stainless steel, which is why they have the lining in the first place.

2 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

Her?

August 24, 2009 2:59 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@cowboy_k: Yeah, and you can't put juice or other acidic things in it for very long because it reacts with the liner as well, if I recall correctly. Stainless-steel water bottles have no liner.

$\"user-pic\"$

bohemian

August 24, 2009 11:47 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Her?: This is what I could not understand. Sigg was seen as the gold standard in water bottles yet they were aluminum. The stainless steel ones don't need a liner and are going to be more durable and resistant. Yet Sigg bottles are crazy expensive. I found some plain stainless steel bottles for about $9 at Target.

$\"user-pic\"$

Her?

September 7, 2009 4:18 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@bohemian: Marketing, marketing, marketing. Sigg bottles also have pretty designs on them. Ooh shiny!

$\"user-pic\"$

MauriceCallidice

August 24, 2009 11:02 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@bohemian: For drinking from, I prefer the neck design of the Sigg more than (eg.) Kleen Kanteen and similar bottles.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

Hanshiro

August 24, 2009 1:19 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Bottles manufactured after August 2008 contain no BPA whatsoever. Sigg argues that consumers shouldn't worry, because their tests show that the liner doesn't leech BPA into the bottle's contents-it simply contains the substance. So why did it take the company a year to admit the change?

I'm guessing a leak forced their hand. But see, they are telling the truth...this time...

How could this happen in the 'free market?' /snark

4 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 6:06 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Hanshiro: There's no \"free market\" when companies are allowed to hide information from their customers.

I believe the poster was also implying that libertarians are idiots, which is kind of pointless on this site.

$\"user-pic\"$

Hanshiro

August 24, 2009 7:53 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

A free market is a term that economists use to describe a market which is free from economic intervention and regulation by government, other than protection of property rights (i.e. no regulation, no subsidization, no single monetary system, and no governmental monopolies).

According to the definition, theo, there's no regulation to compel companies to be forthcoming about their malfeasance. By definition, the free market leaves ethical and moral decisions in the hands of the very entities that would stand to profit most by their concealment.

Your statement about companies being allowed to hide information from their customers is a contradiction in terms since by definition, there is no regulation in a 'free market' to ensure disclosure.

$\"user-pic\"$

HiPwr

August 24, 2009 12:51 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Hanshiro: I don't get the connection between this and the 'free market'.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 1:25 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@HiPwr: Sometimes people throw things in to try to make them sound smart...

","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

H3ion

August 24, 2009 1:51 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

I have what looks like a WWII vintage canteen. It's metal, presumably aluminum, has a canvas cover, and holds water just fine. I think it was a dollar or two at an Army-Navy store.

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

HiPwr

August 24, 2009 12:55 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@H3ion: The ones issued to us were 100% olive drab plastic. There's no telling what the chemical make-up of the material was.

I never thought about carrying one around work. That would be hilarious. Especially while wearing a gas mask with the little tube feeder connected to the canteen!

","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 2:17 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Then again you do not have to suckle a water bottle all day long like some water starved infant. Suck it up, get thirsty and be a man. That is what beer is for.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

Daveinva

August 24, 2009 2:31 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Ahhh, the BPA haters again.

[tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com]

Seriously, go back to protesting Alar, or something.

4 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

bohemian

August 24, 2009 11:50 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Daveinva: I am all for informing people so they can decide for themselves if they wish to consume something or not. The Harvard study does make it sound alarm worthy.

$\"user-pic\"$

lchen

August 24, 2009 4:21 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Daveinva:
bpa baby bottles are banned in canada and most people have traces of it in their system. you can try to argue it doesn't 'do anything' to us but the fact remains it does leach out of products and into our systems.
[www.fastcompany.com]
so 90% of independent studies show adverse affects to human health but industry studies say it's safe. gee who am i to believe.

$\"user-pic\"$

aznjoker

August 24, 2009 2:07 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

The results are only statistically significant. The BPA levels went from 1.2 ug/g to 2.1 ug/g.

It's like all the weight loss commercials. The results are statistically significant that you do lose weight. But is half a pound really a difference in the big picture?

$\"user-pic\"$

Czum

August 24, 2009 4:49 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@aznjoker: It always drives me nuts when people fail to understand basic statistics. Going from 1.2 ug/g to 2.1 ug/g is a 75% increase - sounds a little more concerning now, doesn't it? Don't get fooled because the numbers seem small. Many people would think that 1.2 and 2.1 sound like they are about the same number - maybe they are thinking about 1.2 cents versus 2.1 cents, both of which seem like small amounts.

But lets put it another way - you calculate that this year you owe $12000 in taxes; the IRS gets back to you and says, \"No, you actually owe us $21000 in taxes.\" Still seem like a small amount? This is the exact same percentage increase as in the BPA.

$\"user-pic\"$

MauriceCallidice

August 24, 2009 11:12 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Czum: Yes, it's a substantial percentage increase, but the numerical value of the increase is not meaningless. To use your tax premise, if the IRS said you actually owed $2.10 instead of the $1.20 you paid, the extra 90 cents wouldn't seem like much. So it's not just the percentage, but also the significance of the values involved.

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 4:36 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@lchen: Remember that BPA only comes out of the plastic if the liquid is hot or very acidic (citrus or tomato juice). If you're just drinking cold water, and you don't refill it when it's hot then you're pretty much safe.

$\"user-pic\"$

HappyPig

August 24, 2009 6:18 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@lincolnparadox:

Sorry, you're incorrect in that belief:

\"Boston, MA -- A new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers found that participants who drank for a week from polycarbonate bottles, the popular, hard-plastic drinking bottles and baby bottles, showed a two-thirds increase in their urine of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA). Exposure to BPA, used in the manufacture of polycarbonate and other plastics, has been shown to interfere with reproductive development in animals and has been linked with cardiovascular disease and diabetes in humans. The study is the first to show that drinking from polycarbonate bottles increased the level of urinary BPA, and thus suggests that drinking containers made with BPA release the chemical into the liquid that people drink in sufficient amounts to increase the level of BPA excreted in human urine.\"

[www.hsph.harvard.edu]

","

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 2:32 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Aren't we all prouder than usual tonight over our unpopular vessel choices?

The Internet's ruined our culture if we're patting ourselves on the back for using a glass.

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

Rectilinear Propagation

August 24, 2009 1:33 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@JanDuKretijn: funny (1)

","

$\"user-pic\"$

dinanm3atl

August 24, 2009 2:34 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Man! This is bad news for hipsters...

","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 3:10 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

OMG! They also put dihydrogen monoxide in those bottles!!!!

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 5:31 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@badgeman46: \"OMG, because H2O is like, a chemical and stuff... and so is bisphenol-A, so of course that must be like, the same thing, and there's no difference between drinking xylene or benzene or dioxin, because, like they all have carbon, and like, hydrogen atoms in them and stuff.\"

I wish people knew the story of BPA from a historical perspective that at least went back as far as Theo Coburn's Our Stolen Future. And I wish people got an education in chemistry in compulsory high school so the public could actually talk about these things intelligently. And finally, I wish that the \"what's the big deal, everything's going to kill you\" were forced to drink large quantities of those chemicals they're saying aren't going to kill you. Because that would eliminate the need to have a real discussion about these things 'cause all the naysayers would be dead, or able to prove the chicken-littles we're wrong.

www.ourstolenfuture.org

","","","","","","","","","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 8:14 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Aw man, my Sigg bottle that I haven't actually used in months has the BPA lining. Moreover, the pop-up cap I got with it is so annoying, and that's why I never use it.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 9:03 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Omg the Sigg bottle I \"acquired\" when someone left it on my bar has the bpa lining too!
I'd be sad if I actually used the thing for drinking. It wants to be a great water bottle but the aluminum seems to conduct heat amazingly well, leaving a bottle of warm water in record time.
I like my water frosty, couldn't care less about BPA.

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 1:53 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@veronykah: Yes, aluminum is a good conductor of heat. They use it in cookware for that very reason.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 10:27 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

I've purchased two non-BPA bottles within a period of a month. Both were stolen. If the third one I bought gets swiped as well, I'm sticking with the disposable kind. Fuck the thieves, fuck the environment.

2 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

Kimaroo - 100% Pure Natural Kitteh

August 24, 2009 3:03 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@JollyJumjuck: Here is something my dad taught me back when I was in school and people kept stealing my supplies:

Write your name on it.. You might look like a dork but you'll still have your water bottle.

$\"user-pic\"$

Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)

August 24, 2009 1:33 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@JollyJumjuck: I had a water bottle stolen at work too! I was like, WTF, assholes?????

","

$\"user-pic\"$

rpm773

August 24, 2009 10:32 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

BPA. Water bottles. Water. Phhht.

All I need is my metal flask containing a little Johnny Walker in it and I'm fine. It's the flask with \"Aces Wild\" etched on the side.

","","","","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

TCama

August 24, 2009 12:39 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Were these actually marketed as BPA-free?

I just always got the feeling that these were never explicitly sold as BPA-free. People just assumed that since they're metal (but, as we now know, not completely metal), they couldn't possibly contain BPA. Then, through word of mouth, BPA-phobic people started buying them. But did SIGG ever market them as such?

And just to chime in, I rarely use my water bottle, but it's plastic and BPA free. At work, I use a mug.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

Saboth

August 24, 2009 12:41 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Man, that really pisses me off. I bought a Sigg bottle because they were supposed to be \"top of the line\". I mean... I paid like $20 for a 16 oz water bottle to avoid BPA. Suppose in this case I would have bene better off buying a cheaper walmart stainless steel bottle.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 12:47 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

For those of you now looking to replace their SIGGs, you can take the step I took while replacing my Nalgene bottles. Stick with Stainless Steel, I now own 4 Klean Kanteens and will not be going back: [www.kleankanteen.com]

","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

HiPwr

August 24, 2009 12:57 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I have a lead goblet I carry around at work and sip from constantly.

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

August 26, 2009 8:54 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@HiPwr: I took a lead goblet, painted the exterior with mercury, and had the inside coated with BPA.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

ZoeSchizzel

August 24, 2009 1:00 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I must be behind the times...I thought BPA was only (potentially/allegedly) dangerous when it was heated in a microwave or used with hot foods?

I just use the same plastic water bottle or soda bottle over and over again. I have a couple on hand fill them up from the tap when they get empty and keep in the fridge.

","","","","","","","","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

thejavanut

August 24, 2009 2:48 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

\"Bottles manufactured after August 2008 contain no BPA whatsoever\"
This statement is not true! SIGG will not identify what chemicals are in the new liner. They only say that the \"BPA will not leach\". They never claim that the new liners do not contain BPA. That \"BPA will not leach\" is categorically false also, because the new liners are chipping and flaking off, which is when BPA is guaranteed to leach. It is the purposeful deceit of the company, marketing as a \"safe alternative for kids\" that makes me so mad!

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

zrecs

October 12, 2009 3:17 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@thejavanut: You're wrong. SIGG claims the new material is actually free of BPA in the formulation and has published regulatory certificates stating this. This document is essentially a promise to regulators that certain materials were not used.

Here's a link to the doc (it's a PDF):

","

$\"user-pic\"$

August 24, 2009 2:58 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

gotta go old school: cast iron kitchen utensils; glass; stainless steel; paper.

","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

gover57

August 24, 2009 4:51 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

BPA is in the lining in a lot of canned goods as well, including coke cans and beer cans (clear coating) and campbell's soup cans (white or clear coating) - look iside the next can of soup you open. bet you it's white and plastic lined!

","","","","","","","","","","","","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

Skater009

August 24, 2009 11:02 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

LOL

","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

The Queen of Everything

August 25, 2009 12:03 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

I will continue to use my Sigg Hello Kitty bottle without caring about this BPA.

","","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

August 25, 2009 3:50 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

In more recent years aluminum has been link with Alzheimer's disease. So with all the to-do about one chemical ridden fluid holder to a metal inducing disease fluid holder then I think I will take my chances and go with a glass (not full of lead although it came from China so who knows!) cup!

","

$\"user-pic\"$

August 25, 2009 8:07 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Woot! My 1L Sigg water bottle is one of the newer kind. I just got mine a few months ago for FREE from an ebay green team contest. Of course, I dropped the dumb thing within the first month so there is a dent in it now.

","","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

zrecs

October 12, 2009 3:18 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

ZRecs has now exposed Gaiam as having a similar problem, except they actually sold their bottles as \"BPA-free\" (our post has the evidence), the bottles leach about 20x the BPA, and they are still selling them.

[www.zrecommends.com]

","

$\"user-pic\"$

marck

November 30, 2009 5:45 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

For the slobbering types, there are BPA free water bottles that are spill proof.http://www.gocontigo.com/water-bottles.html

");