Half-liter eco-shaped bottles seem to be everywhere now, and they have already caused notice from environmentalists.

The Numbers Guy, Carl Bialik, from The Wall Street Journal noticed these slimmer bottles last December and crunched all the numbers and stats about them. The Carbon Conscious Consumer really criticizes the so-called "oxymoron" of this environmentally-friendly bottled water. And Planet Trash slams the new shape as marketing hype.

So what is the big deal about these so-called more environmentally-friendly bottles? Most of the bottle water companies claim the following points:

1) Less plastic is used to manufacture the bottles.

2) The eco-shape bottle is 100 percent recyclable.

3) Other eco-features touted include a smaller label, the bottle can be crushed for recycling, and it’s easy to carry.

The bottled water manufacturers are claiming that the eco-shape cuts down on the amount of plastic used to make one bottle — 30 percent less to be exact. But that’s only 30 percent less plastic than the old bottles; the new bottles themselves are not made out of recycled plastic, which is what it seemed like the eco-shape was about.

They are being misleading when claiming that one of the new features is that the eco-shape bottle is 100 percent recyclable. They make it seem like the old bottles weren’t recyclable when, in fact, they were 100 percent recyclable, too.

But it seems that the half-liter bottle size is the only plastic bottle with the new eco-shape. All the other sizes appear to look the same as they have for decades and there hasn’t been any eco-hype about more enviro-friendly liter or gallon bottles.

The bottled water companies are at least going in the right direction. Although buying and drinking bottled water has been frowned upon, it is still healthier to drink water than other bottled alternatives like soda pop.

In an old ever green post about shooting down the negatives of drinking bottled water, the media was criticized for blaming bottled-water manufacturers with clogging up the world with plastic bottles. All bottled drink manufacturers, not just bottled water companies, have the responsibility to the planet for having easily recyclable containers — which for the most part they do. Aluminum cans and plastic bottles are all easily recyclable.

So the good news about the new eco-shape bottle is that it uses less plastic in the manufacturing process. No matter if the product is 100 percent recyclable, starting from the beginning by having less to recycle is always good.

But the most eco-friendly way to drink water is from the tap. Bringing your own refillable water container to work or wherever is always a better alternative than buying one — even if it is in an eco-shape.

keeping the earth ever green

Lisa Tae-Ran Schroeder