We wanted to drink out of less plastic.
We started Bivo with the hope of creating a better bottle. One that would allow others the chance to drink out of less plastic, that would last longer, function better and in the end be healthier for both people and the planet.
Did we accomplish it? The honest answer is we love our bottle and the innovation our team accomplished. We hope many of you do as well. That being said, we are not even close to being done with our efforts to create a better bottle. There cannot be a finishline in today's world when it comes to building a sustainable product. We must continue to demand more of ourselves and make decisions that push us forward, into a better place, together.
How are Bivo bottles better anyway?
The following are the areas and features our team, suppliers and partners dedicated time to and made decisions around that resulted in what we believe is a better bottle for both people and the planet. Is it perfect? Nope and we know it. That being said, it is a huge leap forward and our starting point in creating a better bottle.
69% Less Plastic
While we couldn't avoid all virgin plastic on the Bivo One (don't worry we are working on it), we use 69% less plastic than a traditional 21oz cycling bottle. Why is this important?
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From a health standpoint it ensures you drink out of less plastic.
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From an environmental standpoint our bottle is made from infinitely recyclable stainless steel rather than a plastic bottle that most often finds its way to the landfill.
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By creating our bottle out of metal you are able to put it into the dishwasher without fear of chemical leaching found in some plastics.
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TASTE! Our customers continue to let us know how much they love our bottle simply because their water tastes like water.
Carbon Neutral
We are happy to let you know that the Bivo One is a carbon neutral product. This means we neutralize all our emissions through an offset program. How does this work exactly?
- Research & Measure - Our first step is researching, measuring, and making decisions during our product creation process that lower our emissions in the first place. A great example of this is our packaging, we had three big objectives when designing our packing. 1) Recycled materials (no plastic!!) 2) Minimize waste. We measured each design and selected the one that used the smallest amount of material 3) Do not ship boxes inside of boxes. We are proud that our boxes were built to withstand shipping requirements and that you will not find us shipping your bottle in a box inside another box!
- Offset - Once we land on a finalized product there are still emissions created. This is where offsets come into play. Offsetting our carbon allows us to neutralize the remainder of our emissions through projects we select such as the The Gold Standard’s Cleaner, Safer Water in Cambodia project. The project helps reduce emissions from wood burning stoves used to boil water, reduces hours devoted to the household for women and children, and helps protect the local forests by reducing wood needed for fuel. Additionally, this project manufactures water filters in Cambodia, which provides jobs and strengthens the local economy. The workforce is made up of 47% women! For more, check out this video!
- Reduce Further - Creating a finalized product and offsetting the carbon is a great step in the right direction. However, we believe you must continue taking further steps to ensure the boundaries are pushed and we help contribute to changing the course for our environment. We are currently working on a variety of projects including recycled FDA approved plastic and water based paints that will help continue to lower our impact into the future.
Stainless Steel
An infinitely recycle material, stainless steel is the resource that keeps on giving - it's easily recyclable due to its simple composition of elements such as iron, carbon, chromium and nickel. This allows scrap to be melted down and re-alloyed.
Why is this important? Combined with the durability of stainless steel, our bottles will outlast plastic ones, continue to taste great and in the end you can simply put the metal body in your curbside recycling bin.
Exceeds FDA & REACH Standards
We not only meet FDA and REACH certifications to ensure our product meets the highest safety standards - we exceed them and are striving to meet voluntary specs such as the German GS Spec for managing PAHs.
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Why is this important? The world of chemical safety standards is confusing and strange at best to most people. There are numerous standards across the globe and each have a different set of tolerances to manage the safety of chemicals allowed in products. Which one is best and why are they different? The short answer is they are a great baseline to ensure safety and meeting them is required. However, brands cannot stop at simply meeting the standards if we want to continue to make better products that are safer for people and the planet. We are pushing ourselves to meet voluntary standards that ensure global benchmarks continue to be raised.
Supply Chain
Our co-founder, Carina Hamel, has been in the manufacturing world for over 10 years and has helped numerous brands source great factories around the globe. If there is one piece of advice she would recommend beyond the rest, it is without a doubt that wherever you manufacture you must find good people, who care about what they do, who they employ, and how their products are made.
We vetted nine suppliers before making our decision on who we would partner with to help us create our first bottle. We visited each one, met their teams, toured their facilities, went through their certifications, and saw them interact with their teams and their products. In the end, we landed on an incredible partner that creates some of the best products globally while investing in solar power, waste water discharge systems, waste gas discharge systems, Elevate CSR auditing, and the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI).
Built To Last
In our opinion, building a better bottle no matter what performance and sustainable benefits it provides would fall short without being built to last. Our goal was to create a bottle that would allow our industry to move away from plastic cycling bottles that have a short life span and unfortunately are often looked at as disposable. We did this by designing and testing every feature to ensure our bottle not only performs, but continues to, ride after ride, year after year.
Looking To The Future
We are not even close to being finished with our quest to create a better bottle for people and the planet. We have taken it upon ourselves to continue devoting resources toward continuous improvement. We believethis is not only required to put us on a better path, but also a responsibility we have as a brand. We will continue to be transparent on what we accomplish and at any time we urge you to question us, provide feedback, and help us ensure we are creating something you want to stand behind.
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