Gaiam Water Bottles Containing BPA

Lawyers are investigating a potential lawsuit against Gaiam, alleging the company marketed Gaiam water bottles as not containing Bisphenol A (BPA) when in fact, Gaiam bottles did contain BPA. According to the website Z Recommends, Gaiam has reportedly admitted that an independent lab test showed BPA leaching levels as 23.8 parts per billion from Gaiam bottles.

Gaiam Water Bottles

The Gaiam water bottles at issue are reusable aluminum bottles. They were marketed as not containing BPA, however, reports indicate that the Gaiam bottles do, indeed, contain BPA.

Gaiam, SIGG and Greenwashing

The Gaiam situation is similar to another controversy, this one involving SIGG water bottles. SIGG faces a lawsuit alleging the company promoted its water bottles as being free from BPA when it knew they were not. In fact, according to the Organic Consumers Association (OCA, September 23, 2009), SIGG forced the association to retract a statement recommending consumers avoid the SIGG bottles because of BPA. The OCA reportedly printed a retraction and issued a letter of apology to SIGG, who used the OCA's quotes in its own letter, legitimizing its claim that its water bottles were BPA-free. However, according to the OCA, SIGG knew the whole time that SIGG bottles contained BPA.

Gaiam is not accused of taking the same action toward environmentally-friendly organizations that SIGG reportedly took, but it is accused of falsely marketing Gaiam bottles as BPA free when it knew they were not.

Companies marketing products as environmentally friendly when they are not is known as greenwashing, a combination of green (as in, environmentally sound) and whitewashing. Essentially, greenwashing is the deceptive use of green marketing to sell a product that is not as green as the company says it is. Often, the goal of greenwashing is either to increase profit or to convince customers to purchase a specific product over other products that are not "green".

Advertising a product as not having BPA when it actually does is a form of greenwashing because customers who are environmentally conscious or health conscious would likely choose to purchase a BPA-free water bottle over one that contains BPA.

BPA

BPA stands for bisphenol A, a compound used to make plastics. When ingested, BPA mimics estrogen and can affect infants and children. Specific health concerns include brain development and behavior in infants and children. In the past few years, many consumers have started to avoid using products that contain BPA.

Gaiam Bottles BPA Legal Help

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Last updated on Nov-10-09