Bottled water, without giant carbon footprint
IN an age of heightened awareness of the environment, one Cairns food producer has reduced their carbon footprint to just a fraction of what many businesses output.
Now, Richard Sercome just needs to let people know his bottled water isn’t like the rest.
The Woree business started to implement energy and costsaving processes five years ago and now could be the most green bottled water manufacturer in the state.
Five years ago Cairns Natural Spring Water invested in solar and have made a considerable reduction in the amount of power they use from the grid.
Two years ago they invested in a hybrid truck to help reduce their delivery footprint and last year they bought a blow moulding machine, which means they make all their own bottles on site, removing the cost and emissions of transporting empty bottles from Brisbane.
“We are continuing to look into 100 per cent recycled preforms that we can make bottles out of and as soon as they become available we will use them,” Mr Sercome said.
“We need people to recycle so the volume is there for us. People think they’re doing the right thing, but only using ‘biodegradable’ product but even that cardboard water in a box has plastic in it and will only go to landfill.
“We could just see the way it was going, the price of electricity was one big thing and that was why we started on solar. Our green footprint is as small as we can get it.
“The only transport we have is the delivery.”
The business is built over an aquifer and one of the most popular products are large refiller water chillers.
Crates of 600ml water bottles are also popular with the tourism industry but a perception they weren’t eco-friendly was damaging the business. Mr Sercome said the team had invested a lot of time investigating other alternatives to PET but as yet had not found anything that was as recyclable. “All the other products we have investigated are simply not recyclable,” he said.
“We’re continuing to search for more effective ways to keep their production and the environment green.”