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BetterBottle PET is among the safest plastics in the world – During the past few months, BetterBottle editors have been busy dealing with a flood of disinformation about the supposed dangers of using, or re-using, polyethylene terephthalate plastic (PET). At this point in time, a mix of environmental groups, representing a broad range of water and waste related issues, and global corporations, competing with one another in the water and plastics markets, are fighting tooth and claw to manipulate public perception to their advantage. With such tectonic forces at work, is it any wonder that fiction is often tangled with fact. We are well aware that articles in mainstream papers and magazines or stories on radio and television are frequently driven by public relations efforts with special interest agendas (lobbyists). However, we were somewhat surprised to discover that many supposedly authoritative green Web sites are also disseminating what appear to be planted reports that are based on twisted interpretation and urban myth – reports that their editors are unwilling to correct or retract, even when presented with hard evidence. It is our opinion that the National Geographic Green Guide has managed to get most of what they report about plastic food and beverage containers wrong and as of April 2008, the editors appear to have been unwilling to publish any corrections or retractions. We have succeeded in convincing many mainstream editors to publish more enlightened stories. The May, 2008 issue of Consumer Reports has an excellent statement, Recalls & Safety Alerts – A new focus on plastic ingredient in bottles and cans. Newsweek's first article on the plastic bottles, The Baby Bottle Blues in the January 14, 2008 issue was little more than an terribly incorrect infomercial from our point of view. However, the Newsweek editors revisited the issue in the February 4, 2008 issue with a much better statement, The Chemicals Within. However, we know our dealers and customers are already awash in the disinformation. So, we have provided concise, well-documented facts in the Technical Section of this Web site. Pertinent press releases and news stories can be accessed using the tabs to the left of this screen. We encourage dealers and end users to distribute this information proactively, especially to winemaking and brewing forums and local media. Of course, BetterBottle has its own selfish reasons for wanting the facts to be known; however, everyone benefits from being well informed. Does it make any sense to have home winemakers and brewers or the public believing that PET might be harming them, when PET is one of the most widely used and safest plastics in the food industry? Editorial Department BetterBottle Recommend Magazines: WineMaker (www.winemakermag.com), Brew Your Own (www.byo.com), and Zymurgy (www.beertown.org). |
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