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Green Consumers Demand Alternative To Plastic Water Bottles

Water filter and container makers are capitalizing on the latest green trend. Even companies that currently sell water packaged in plastic bottles are getting on the bandwagon. Companies are piggybacking on Americans' plastic-water-bottle remorse. More than 1.5 million barrels of petroleum go into the production of the 38 billion plastic water bottles Americans toss every year.

Nestle, which owns such brands as Arrowhead, Poland Spring and Ice Mountain, is rolling out a lightweight bottle that uses 30% less plastic than the current model and sports a paper-saving label that is 30% smaller. The company is investigating other environmentally friendly packaging alternatives, a spokeswoman said.

Coca-Cola Co. also has redesigned bottles for its Dasani brand to reduce the use of raw materials by 30% and introduced a cap that can be recycled. And Pepsi Co.'s Aquafina -- which under pressure from consumer groups recently began to acknowledge on its bottles that the water inside originates from the tap -- has reduced the weight of its plastic packaging by 40% in the last five years.

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