Clare Springs into action.

Jan 24, 2022

Have you ever visited a local water company?

The other week the Fifty Shades Greener team visited Clare Spring who are committed to move away from plastic bottles completely by the end of 2022. Clare Spring is an environmentally friendly, family run company located deep in the rolling hills of Co. Clare. With process lines 100% automated and designed to run a wide range of both glass and plastic bottles, Clare Springs distribute to shops, and nationally to hotels & businesses as a premium water product in glass bottles. 

The Challenges of being an Environmentally Friendly Business

In Clare Springs efforts, they have tried plant-based plastic bottles which can be composted but they soon realised that through the delivery stacking and movement of the trucks, hairline cracks appeared in the bottles.  Through vigorous testing, Clare Springs now offers “water-in-a-box” which holds 10 litres, for households and businesses to use and in the coming months will offer Spring water refill stations in a number of locations. 

Starting your green journey is a process, somethings will work, and somethings won’t – it’s about your commitment to make the planet, your industry, and your business better. 

Is Circular Distribution the way forward?

In conversation with Clare Springs we spoke about the possibility of a circular distribution – which they are willing to trial with one of their hotel partners.  However, there can be a few challenges, we recommend considering these points to help you on your green journey:

  • Collaboration with hotels is needed 
  • There needs to be a simple and effective process on how to return bottles
  • Investment in new equipment is necessary and expensive in order to clean and sterilize the bottles for reuse.  

Are you considering Circular Distribution? Reach out to the team we would love to hear your green journey.

Three reasons why you need to try Clare Springs

  1. Their  water comes from their spring untreated – unfiltered – pure and natural straight into the bottle (and it is tested to the ‘enth degree). Green Tips - Some companies use treated tap water which they then add minerals to.
  2. The 150 acres around their spring, owned by the company, is certified organic, and has been left to wild for over 10 years.  This supports and promotes the biodiversity of the area too. 
  3. In 2022, they are going to measure their CO2 emissions per bottle and publish their figures transparently. Clare Spring is a company that is innovating and most importantly, they are trying. 

This is the level of commitment we need to see from companies – not “our water bottles have 25% less plastic” – that’s still plastic. 

For example Tetra Pak is not as Green as an option as we would have hoped, check out our latest newsletter by clicking here:  https://www.fiftyshadesgreener.ie/blog/tetra-v-glass-v-plastic-which-is-best

Will you change your water routine?

After the Fifty Shades Green team came away from their visitation at Clare Spring, a little less sure on whether drinking water from the tap is good for you.  With some follow-up research we discovered that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported in 2020:

“Irish Water’s failure to improve plants risks ‘health of a large portion of the population’” 

The report identified a number of “at risk” water supplies including 1,300 people in Corrofin, Co. Clare. Tap water is treated so that it is free of bacteria, organisms and chemicals, but the EPA have found “deficiencies in the national disinfection programme.

Whilst the report did find that tap water standards were quite high in Ireland as a whole, it is worth considering how close your house is to the treatment plant, consider the following Green Tip.

  • The tap water closest will have a higher level of residual chlorine in it as it needs to travel the distance to the furthest house on a particular water line and ensure that any “harmful” bacteria left is killed off.

We hope you feel empowered to make a positive greener change as there are companies out there trying really hard to make the world a better place. If you are just starting out your green journey, whether you may not be perfectly green just yet, as long as you are committed to trying and not greenwashing – you are onto a WIN! 

To learn more about the Clare Spring project and others, visit their webpage here 

https://clarespring.ie/

To learn more about how you can reduce your carbon emissions - visit our page for more information on our environmental training programmes;

https://www.fiftyshadesgreener.ie/carbon-emissions-management 

Thank you for reading our piece today! The FSG Team ðŸ’š 

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