New Twist for Bottled Water

We found this this information on the Y bottle at core77.com, and felt it was definitely worth mentioning. “Bottled-water-drinkers have surely noticed Poland Springs making the switch to lightweight bottles; once empty, the easily-crushed containers remind you that what was a vessel five minutes ago has now become garbage.

Yves Behar’s fuseproject and L.A.-based Y Water–targeting vitamin-enriched water at children–are moving in the opposite direction, with a distinctive Y-shaped bottle they’re hoping will stick around a while longer.

Behar’s innovation was to give the bottle two lives: its first is as a vessel for the product, and when empty, it gains a second life as a toy. The sturdy 9-ouncers “can be linked with other bottles through biodegradable rubber ‘Y Knots,’ connectors that help to create spaceships, animals, robots, or whatever else a creative child can imagine.”

“We look to this repurposing of the Y Water bottle to not only encourage children to be creative, but to encourage children to think about reuse rather than simply discarding these into the trash,” says Behar. “We want to create a new paradigm for children’s products that encourages unique new behaviors and a productive afterlife for the product.”

Of course, kids will grow up someday and toys will eventually go in the trash; but not to worry, Y Water bottles are 100% recyclable. Once finished with the product, parents can log onto www.ywater.us and receive a free mailer to send the bottle back for recycling.”