BPA alert: How to return your Sigg bottle
August 28th, 2009
That is if you even want to, after reading about how Sigg may have deceived its customers by offering itself as a safe alternative to plastic drinking bottles as news about BPA’s toxicity made headlines. I’ve been a longtime Sigg bottle enthusiast, so imagine my dismay when I read on The Huffington Post yesterday that the lining inside all Sigg bottles made before August 2008 contains traces of the suspected endocrine disruptor. And imagine my further distress when I went to my cabinet to check the lining of my beloved bottle using the handy “have you potentially been guzzling toxic chemicals” comparison photos on the Sigg website and discovered that yes, I potentially have, even though the bottle was given to me as a birthday present in October 2008. Great. Just great.
BPA has been in the news for some time now, after it was discovered that the chemical — which mimics the hormone estrogen — leaches from containers (polycarbonate bottles and the lining of metal food cans) into the food and beverages we consume.
Connecticut, Michigan, the city of Chicago, and several counties in New York have since banned the chemical from children’s products like baby bottles and sippy cups; Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) have introduced even broader legislation at the federal level. (The California Assembly, by the way, is voting on its statewide BPA ban next week, so if you live in CA, make sure you contact your representatives to urge them to vote yes.)
If you decide that you’re not so outraged at Sigg’s greenwashing that you want to take the company up on its offer to replace your older bottle for a new one with BPA-free lining, here’s what to do:
- Click here to view more photos to determine which liner you have — if it’s a shiny copper bronze finish, you have one of the old bottles; if it’s a dull pale yellow coating, you have the new Sigg EcoCare liner — hooray! (Too bad the company didn’t eco-care enough before to reveal what was really in that plastic lining.)
- Email customer service at liners [at] mysigg [dot] com, and someone will get back to you within two business days with information on how to exchange your bottle. Click here for return and shipping instructions. (I guess customer service was so bombarded with emails, they decided to just post the information directly on the site.)
- 9/2/09 Update: Save the cost of shipping. I read in Simran Sethi’s article yesterday on HuffPost (in which she relays her conversation with Sigg CEO Steve Wasik) that most major retailers that sell Siggs — like REI and Whole Foods — will replace your bottle. Thanks, Simran! (Whether or not you want to break the Whole Foods boycott to return yours is up to you.)
- 10/5/09 Update: So furious that you want to just toss your Sigg? Don’t make the planet suffer for Wasik’s ineptitude — put it in the recycling bin. (I confirmed with the company that the bottles are 100 percent recyclable and can be placed in the bin along with other aluminum products.)
–Jennifer Grayson
Related posts:
California Senate passes BPA ban
Lobbyists plan to target minorities, poor to protect use of BPA
BPA: The evidence is mounting
Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed
September 25th, 2009 at 5:55 am
Thank you for this, but Sigg is worse than what you write. If you go on their website and click to learn the ingredients in the new Eco-care lining, it says “coming soon”. Why someone would trust Sigg with their “Ecocare” lining when they fail to disclose what is “eco” about it, is beyond me. The BPA debate is so odd, since people are scrambling to avoid BPA without considering what they are replacing it with. I have been using Klean Kanteen for years now – stainless steel, no epoxy liner, no chemicals… We got a little Sigg baby bottle as a gift for our five month old daughter with the new Ecocare liner, but it is going in the trash.
September 25th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I’m with you 100 percent, Richard. But please don’t throw your old Sigg in the trash, since it’s 100 percent recyclable (don’t make the planet suffer for Wasik’s deception). There’s no info online as to how to recycle them (whether they can go in the recycling bin or dropped off at a collection spot), so I’m contacting the company. Stay tuned.
December 7th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Hi Jennifer:
I had seen the return info for the old sigg bottles and had planned to send 2 children’s bottles back for replacements but now that info is no longer on their website. I just submitted an email to the company but was wondering if you had any updates.
many thanks,
sharon
December 7th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Hi Sharon,
Sorry about that — looks like Sigg removed any reference to the BPA fiasco from its website. You can still return your bottle to Sigg, though you’ll have to pay the shipping costs. Click here for Sigg’s instructions.
If you don’t want to pay shipping costs, you can return your bottles to Whole Foods — you don’t even need a receipt.
Hope this helps!