999Bottles: The Water Bottle That Measures Your Environmental Impact

The Huffington Post  |  By Posted: 04/25/2012 2:29 pm Updated: 04/25/2012 2:38 pm

999bottles
The 999Bottle helps people track their environmental impact.

Americans buy nearly a billion bottles per week, according to some estimates. From the 51 billion total purchased per year, less than a quarter are recycled, while countless others are left in landfills where they may have unforeseen consequences on the environment and nearby wildlife. Similarly, many spend money on bottled water when tap water can be almost 2,000 percent less expensive and more healthy.

While these sobering facts have sparked the reusable bottle movement over the past few years, Ferd van Engelen and his colleagues at the Seattle based Artefact Group have taken it a step further, creating the 999Bottles water bottle, a 24 ounce reusable water bottle that allows its users to see exactly how abandoning disposable plastic bottles can help sustainability. They recently launched a Kickstarter campaign, where they are trying to raise $99,000 to make 999Bottles a reality.

The bottle keeps track of your conservation efforts via a dial at the bottom of the bottle that you turn every time you refill, maxing out at the 999th refill. The bottle's dial works with an accompanying iPhone app that calculates how much you're helping the environment -- through colorful, fun facts such as how many stories the plastic bottles you’ve gone without would stack up to and how far you could travel with the oil you’ve saved from ditching plastic.

Backers of $29 or more will receive a 999Bottle.

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Americans buy nearly a billion bottles per week, according to some estimates. From the 51 billion total purchased per year, less than a quarter are recycled, while countless others are left in landfil...
Americans buy nearly a billion bottles per week, according to some estimates. From the 51 billion total purchased per year, less than a quarter are recycled, while countless others are left in landfil...
 
 
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
trishinpitt
No, your micro-bio is empty!
05:03 PM on 04/30/2012
Hmmm.... I would forget to turn the dial.... shortchanging my efforts!
12:23 PM on 04/26/2012
The Reclamation Act of 1922 (see the Movie "China Town") removed "water" from private ownership and therefore, all water is controlled by the Federal Government. Federally designated Water Authorities distribute/sell water at the wholesale level. This semi-socialist program allows us to "flush" with better water than some countries drink, because there is no "free enterprise" (and a modified capitalism) in water.

It took many years for greed to figure a way around one America's greatest achievements - by figuring a way to put free enterprise back into something that's "nearly" free. Coke and Pepsi make more from water than from sodas.

Make no mistake, water is a monumental undertaking in the U.S.. The Federal Govt and the Army Corps of Engineering does such a good job that their efforts go largely unnoticed (until there's a mistake of some kind). There's only one water facility owned an operated by the Federal Government - guess which one? It treats 5 million gallons of water per day - it's by no means the largest.
12:21 PM on 04/26/2012
If your tap water tastes bad, use a Brita filter. Been doing this for years.
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glers
ambidextrous winger
12:15 PM on 04/26/2012
I will not drink Tap water anymore, this bottle is useless if it cant filter out toxins!
colloc
Born 1927, Fought ww2, Korea
12:03 PM on 04/26/2012
My tap water tastes fine and has been tested to insure that it is pure. I use a 30 year old thermos bottle that works just as well as an new bottle. I don't drink bottled water so I am not part of the problem.
11:49 AM on 04/26/2012
...or I can go to the grocery store and pick up a bottle for a few bucks and use filtered water. Our water is too hard to taste great from the tap.
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agb1953
Carson/Rubio 2016! Run Ben Run!
10:43 AM on 04/26/2012
Just another smug badge.
10:32 AM on 04/26/2012
This sounds like another Al Gore brainstorm. He should receive two Peace Prizes for this one. I wonder if the peace prize comes with a dial on the bottom so you can find them at the landfill.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Stacey Schley
09:50 AM on 04/26/2012
I got 999 bottles and this ain't one....
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
09:02 AM on 04/26/2012
And, the energy differential between using a glass and this doo-dad ... ?
07:51 AM on 04/26/2012
lol ok the green machine is going too far, just use a britta filter and one of the water bottles you already bought, then your saving the environment by even MORE :)
03:02 PM on 04/26/2012
thank god someone is thinking like me. sometimes it just makes ya wonder huh charles:)
05:15 AM on 04/26/2012
blah blah blah kelly clarkson drink water....ooohhh cool raybans! Now show me a water bottle that will turn my water into jesus juice and well talk..
02:08 AM on 04/26/2012
Yea um... I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing. That product of his is pointless and useless.
01:57 AM on 04/26/2012
how much Environmental did it take to make this product ?
12:39 AM on 04/26/2012
thats ok...will still buy a bottle of water....do not need another friggin gadget in my life, especially ones that are eco-green, or green, or energy green, or green energy...i just want the water.