Why glass bottles? Making waves on the bottom line
“As customers of your bottled water for 20 plus years we are delighted that you are doing this. Like many people we have been trying to restrict our use of single use plastics but have carried on using your water. This has made us realise that we need a few more reusable plastic bottles and can use tap water. Thank you for changing our behaviour.”
Ever had a niggly-niggle thought? You know the kind; something you know, deep down in your heart, that you should do or change but there are logical reasons why you shouldn't?
We've been grappling with one of those for a little while. Then, last month, we did it. We did… whatever the opposite of ‘bottling it’ is.
You may not know this, but we’ve stocked bottled water for over 20 years. And, rather embarrassingly, we offered it in plastic – and glass – bottles.
We first started working with Llanllyr Spring way back when because we loved their beautiful organic ethos. Their water comes up through the stunning land that has been organically farmed for 300 years. Top chefs serve their water in their restaurants as the quality is so spectacular. Customers were asking for an organic water and we figured that if you’re going to drink bottled water, Llanllyr Spring was the tip top sip, and it still is. So their bottles joined our organic ranks.
Every now and then though, we thought, ‘should we stock still water?’ We live in a country were tap water is safe to drink. If we were really honest with ourselves, a bucket of resources was being unnecessarily wasted by packaging and delivering something that flows freely in every house in the country.
Over the last few years that niggle wiggled and wriggled and this summer we wrangled the niggle from our noggins. Once we put our heads together it took about 2 minutes to make the decision. We shouldn’t be stocking still water.
We all knew it was the right thing to do. But what makes environmental sense, doesn't always make business sense. Hey though, if you’re going to make a difference, you’ve got to make waves, right? And now is very much the time to make a splash and do what's right for the world, not just our bottom line. (OK. That’s probably enough aquatic metaphors for one day, don’t you think?)
You’ll still find sparkling water in glass bottles in our shop and we’re on the case to find an ethical and truly sustainable water filter for those who aren’t fans of unadulterated tap.
“We do love the sparkling water and have been debating cancelling it for the very reasons you outline below... So we will try the glass and we are making sure we drink more tap water.”
Cutting back on plastic? You can now shop low or no plastic here >
