This start-up is producing 100% recyclable water bottles filled with glacier water.

North Water aims to eliminate our need for plastic water bottles as they showcase the clear, beautiful, clean water in our Rocky Mountain backyard.

In 2016, only 6% of the plastic that was introduced in Canada was actually recycled.

We learned this staggering number from North Water’s founder, Saawan Logan.

"Canada isn't a third-world country, it’s not even an underdeveloped country. The rest of the plastics in our country were either burnt off or they end up in our landfills or our ocean," says Logan, "It’s a very sad statistic."

Where did it all begin?

Logan and her business partner, Linda Cheung founded North Water in March of 2020 with the goal in mind to end plastic pollution by creating aluminum reusable and recyclable water bottles, filled with glacier water from the Rockies. In just over a year, they have expanded to over 800 stores across Canada between BC and Quebec, and are working on getting into the east shortly.

"We both worked in oil and gas and we both bothered by plastic pollution, but for me, it was a little more personal…"

Growing up in Fiji, the ocean was the livelihood of the people and Logan explains that due to the high level of microplastics, 75% of the fish is inedible.

"It’s very jarring and one of the biggest contributors is always water bottles and you see them floating around. It’s the same when I go hiking. I see plastic water bottles — I don’t see plastic bags so much — because people take them and they just feel the need to leave them behind. Yet they also drink out of the springs as well, because we’ve got this delicious beautiful spring water surrounding us. "

"So it was this combination that was the culprit of the problem we wanted to solve."

They wanted to tie these two things together, "tell the world you have delicious drinking water and showcase how you can actually keep the water clean."

The story behind these bright blue aluminum cans

They decided to create their water bottles out of aluminum cans because it is infinity recyclable Logan tells us. "We looked at cardboard, paper, tetra pack and realized everything needed plastic to make it work."

"Aluminum was the only material that didn’t require plastic and it’s also the most recycled product out there. Even countries like Brazil I think had a 97% recyclability rate of aluminum last year."

Logan also explains that aluminum is an expensive metal, and like all things that have a high value, people look after them. "The aluminum is such solid quality and when you hold it you have a sense that it’s a vessel you’d drink out of again, and whether you do or not, the intention is always there to reuse it."

The colour of the bottles is where North Water incorporates the beauty of Canada and the source of their water.

"The blue we used was Canada — the colour of lakes here, like Moraine Lake, Lake Louise is what we wanted to capture for two reasons. First of all, the colour of these lakes won’t be there forever, and two we want the world to think of Canada, because when you come to visit and you see the lakes, that blue is always the colour you remember. It ties us back to the beautiful water we have around us and the beautiful landscape we have, and protecting that."

North Water in the community

One of the primary focuses for Logan and her team is supporting the First Nations community and providing them with ways so that they can have clean drinking water.

"We are looking forward to reviving our partnership with True North, a company whose focus is on educating, training, and certifying the First Nations communities how to operate the water purification plants that the Government puts in. With COVID these in-person classroom sessions weren’t happening, but they should be up and running shortly.

The price of water

North Water water bottles aren’t cheap, considering aluminum is an expensive metal. Logan and her team do their best to keep costs down, but in order to work towards their goals around sustainability, they still can't charge the same as a plastic water bottle — but for good reason.

"You’re going to pay 10 times what you’re paying today to clean up down the road, and it’s going to be irreversible damage," says Logan. "Yes it’s expensive, change is expensive, but it’s going to be way more expensive if you don’t do anything about it today — that’s what I think people need to remember."

"We just want to make sure our children get to enjoy our backyard as much as we have!"

This article was featured in the Calgary Citizen newsletter on June 09 2021. Read the full newsletter here.

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