http://www.care2.com/greenliving/sigg-is-taking-their-bpa-bottles-back.html
Sigg is Taking Their BPA Bottles Back
I’m a little behind the curve on this as it’s been in the news for a while but I wanted to post it up here nonetheless. A few months back, it came out that Sigg bottles (the Swiss made aluminum water bottles) had an inner lining that contained BPA. Now for those of you drinking from Sigg’s don’t be too worried because the chances of the BPA leaching are minimal at best.
Having said that, for years Sigg has been (in my opinion) heavily implying that their bottles do not contain BPA even though they have stopped short of saying so. In fact, a potential Class Action suit against the company claims they knowingly mislead the public. When the information on the BPA came out, they immediately said that the bottles were not a problem and while they didn’t place a recall on them, they did say that they would replace the effected bottles free of charge, if you were willing to pay the postage to send them to them.
The best way to determine which bottle you have is by unscrewing the cap. Open it up and look at the inner rings that the cap attaches to. If they are greenish white, you are good to go and have one of the new eco-liners that are safe. If they are a sort of coppery/bronze color, then you can and should return them for a new bottle.
You can find out about the voluntary exchange program here and read an apology letter from the president of the Sigg corporation here.
Before you send your bottles out however, I’d suggest giving a call to your local Whole Foods and asking them if they are accepting returns for new ones. Ours did, and I have been told since that many camping and green stores that carry Siggs are taking them back as well so it’s worth a phone call or two.
I personally don’t use Siggs because I’d rather drink from stainless steel than use lined aluminum. That said, there are many people who like Siggs and I think the company is a good one, but they certainly should have handled this better and if you are inclined, should replace your bottles with new ones.
Hope this helps and my apologies for taking so long to get the info out.
Dave
Dave Chameides is a filmmaker and environmental educator. His website and newsletter are designed to inspire thought and dialogue on environmental solutions and revolve around the idea that no one can do everything, but everyone can do something. “Give people the facts, and they’ll choose to do the right thing.”
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14 comments
add your comment »I sent my bottles back on September 4th and can not get a person on the phone to follow up. I've even called Canada and London offices to no avail. If anyone has the a working # I'd appreciate it.
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Thanks, i didn't know, i have an old one and i always wondered but it's the only non-plastic reusable avaiable here. Btw, the design is lovely - so nice- smooth, so germfree, one of those things, you use it once and you're addicted. But there's bound to be some other nasty we don't know about now. But i have plenty of health problems, i don't think bpa will kill me
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I called that one! Just use glass and wrap it with some discarded bubble-wrap it you're an oaf (like me).
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Try
kleankanteen.com
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Well, this very day after posting my comment here and leaving them a not very nice phone message, I got an email with a coupon code for free replacements from their website. First paragraph says I must use the coupon by Oct. 31 or free shipping will expire (after delaying two months, they give me 10 whole days to choose replacements). Next paragraph tells me they are coming out with new designs and new SteelWorks bottles within the next two weeks or so, and I might want to wait until then, as the coupon does not expire! Well, which is it? They also wrote that my order may be placed on hold pending review and approval -- after I already waited two months?? Does Sigg really have anyone in customer service who knows what they're doing? I'll get my replacements and then it's adios from me as a customer. These days every company should be making more of an effort to retain customers, not irritate, confuse and lose them.
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Definitely check with your local store if it carries Sigg (Whole Foods was mentioned, Wegmans carries them too). I sent mine back to Sigg and it took almost 2 months to get my coupon to buy new bottles from their site. I get free shipping, but I don't know how long it will be before the new order is filled. I'll keep you posted.
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I don't see how the new lining is any better. I'd rather just use stainless steel.
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BTW, thanks for the tip about some stores taking exchanges on this. The main reason I hadn't sent mine in yet (apart from worrying about whether it was ethical to take advantage of this offer when for me it's more about my kid having damaged the bottle) was that judging from the mass hysteria, I figured they'd be inundated with returns and it would take them months to slog through them all. Which judging from the other comments here is exactly what's happened. :-(
As to why not just use a glass bottle, as someone asked -- glass is great for many purposes, but not so much for something you're going to carry around with you everywhere. Particularly if you have an active lifestyle and/or small children. I'd be more than a little worried about a glass bottle banging around in my bike's bottle holder when I'm riding over bumpy roads, and the number of dents in SIGG from my toddler throwing it around, knocking it over, etc. suggest to me that a glass bottle would have been shattered many times over. For better or worse, I need something that's pretty rugged.
I did consider Kleen Kanteen, but it seems to give a metallic taste to the water, and the design seems sort of klunky and awkward compared to the SIGG. Plus, the screech when you screw the metal top onto it is like nails on a blackboard. I've also read recently that some steel bottles leach heavy metals, though I think that's more the cheaper brands. Still, something to think about.
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I honestly think all the hysteria over this is silly. When I was trying to decide between SIGG and Kleen Kanteen a few years ago, I did as much research as I could, to be sure I was making a good choice. One thing I noticed at the time was that nowhere did SIGG ever say their liners didn't contain BPA. In fact, the one bit of solid information about the liner composition that I was able to find was that they were epoxy, which usually *does* contain at least trace amounts of BPA. However, I also found that they'd been exhaustively tested - *not* just by the company themselves, which I wouldn't regard as being very objective, but by independent sources - and found not to leach anything. So that was good enough for me.
Now everyone's screaming about being "deceived" and "poisoned" and what not... and really, it's nonsense. They never claimed the bottles were BPA-free, and I don't see why people think it was even implied. Any one who had concerns could have done what I did - hit Google looking for some info before buying. The fact that you didn't bother, and jumped to conclusions instead, does not mean you were "misled", it means you didn't take the time to be an informed consumer.
All evidence I've seen suggests that the original liners were safe. That said, I might exchange mine anyway, not because of what the liners made of, but because my toddler managed to grind some sand into the neck of the bottle at the park, scraping the lining right *off*. That, I'd like to fix.
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Why even BUY a bottle? Is aluminum better? I use a glass leftover from a Sobe I bought months ago. At first I was afraid I would drop it, but I simply got used to carrying it. Of course I'm not hiking up mountains with it, but for everyday use it's fine.
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