BPA free has been quite the buzzword for the past few years since the FDA banned its use in a few product segments back in 2012. A very thin BPA (bisphenol A) liner was and is used in food and beverage containers to prevent the contents from coming into contact with the container. Sounds great and safe, right? I mean why would you actively want your bottled water coming into contact with plastic until you drink it or your canned vegetable sitting on a shelf coming into direct contact with a steel can? Insert science and we figured out that the idea of a liner is great, just not one that contains BPA since the BPA liner can actually leech into your products. Having high levels of BPA in your body can lead to some health risks like high blood pressure, heart issues, and diabetes. The FDA has actually only limited the use of BPA liners in consumer-packaged goods designed for infants and young children, not the general public. 

So the simple solution is - don’t use BPA liners anymore, and most companies do not. However, studies have shown that about 10% of consumer packaged goods still use a BPA liner.         

Let’s get back to water - how can we make sure that you are buying BPA free water bottles? Most companies like to mention somewhere on their packaging that they are “BPA Free Spring Water” or that they are a “Bottled Water BPA Free Brand” to let consumers easily identify that they have BPA free water, so that’s easy enough. Surprisingly enough there are no regulations that require a company to list if the product contains BPA or if it is BPA free, so you might want to air on the side of caution and choose a water brand that proudly states they don’t use BPA water bottles and actually put some thought into their product. However, it is worth mentioning that even BPA free plastic (PET) bottled waters still have chemicals like phthalates that have been shown to seep into the water they hold, especially when they’re exposed to extreme temperatures or stored for a long time (maybe rotate out that case of water that’s been in the back of the pantry for a while or the bottle rolling around the floor of your car). It’s almost liked these companies decided to take a step in the right direction and use BPA free water bottles only to take two steps back and use a PET product that leeches other chemicals into our drinking water. So, beware of plastic bottled waters that proudly carry the “BPA Free Water” statement because you might not be drinking BPA but you might be drinking other chemicals instead. I won’t even go into how little these PET bottles are recycled or how they can only be down cycled when and if they are actually recycled. 

So, you have to be thinking - is any bottled water actually good for me (and also the planet if you try to be green)? I think we can all agree that you should start with BPA free spring water since it’s natural and doesn’t have things removed/added in like purified, reverse osmosis, or municipal waters and you’re checking the box of BPA free. Next, we should think about the packaging holding our water and how it affects our water (can’t forget the PET stuff and all the phthalate problems), and here’s where we choose BPA free aluminum water bottles. Aluminum is now and always will be the simplest answer to our plastic dependence as well as the growing problem of plastic leaching into our drinking water. BPA free spring water brands are everywhere, but how many bottles in aluminum? Not many. As consumers, we are shifting our purchasing habits toward more sustainable and healthy choices every day so it is only a matter of time before we see more planet friendly choices on the shelves. Choose the best option for you and your family, simply because BPA free spring water makes the most sense: water that is natural and planet-friendly and when you accompany it with an aluminum bottle, you’ve got a winner. 

RAIN prides itself on being a BPA free spring water brand that bottles natural spring water right at the source. We’re committed to sustainability from the water source deep in the Appalachian Mountains, to the 100% recyclable aluminum bottles that we fill. RAIN uses a thin non-BPA acrylic liner to keep your natural spring water from coming into contact with the aluminum bottle - making sure that there is nothing harmful in any bottle you open. Unlike our PET counterparts, we make sure that the water you’re drinking is just that - water. There are a lot of BPA free aluminum bottled water companies out there so next time you are in the store, pick one up and make sure the company lives up to its promises. If they say they’re sustainable then check behind them; if they say they’re natural spring water, look and see where the source is. Do a little homework to make sure you’re making the best and most sustainable choice, and when in doubt - reach out. Most companies will be happy to answer any questions on their products and what goes into each. 

Now that we have all learned a little bit more about what bisphenol A is and what it means when a product is not “BPA Free” we can apply that logic to more of our consumer packaged goods choices across the board. When it comes to our water, BPA free does not always mean nothing is getting into your water, as noted with traditional plastic (PET) where microplastics can seep in, even with a BPA free liner. I know the next time I am in the store looking for a cold bottle of water I’m going to run through my checklist and make sure that I’m picking a BPA free natural spring water in a planet friendly aluminum bottle. 

Guest Contributor: William Ethan