Get Yo’ Green On Tuesday – SubZero Water Bottles – A Very Disappointing Product Review

While at the local Walgreen’s a week ago I spotted one of those cool new stainless steel water bottles which was advertising it was “Reusable, Refillable,  Recyclable.” It came in several colors and sizes and was made by SubZero.

Since I am concerned about plastic usage, I felt this was a great reusable alternative and bought three of them. What convinced me to buy was the tagged “features list,” which seemed significant: “Does not leach harmful chemicals into liquids, Producing stainless steel is toxin-free, Surface has no pores or cracks to hold bacteria, Life expectancy is over 100 years because of its impact and rust resistance, Can also be recycled 100%."

My first concern - there are a LOT of cautions on the exterior of the bottle – but they seemed fairly obvious like “Intended for cool and cold beverages only,” or “Do not use cleaners containing bleach or chlorine.”

My disappointment and shock began the first day I gave my eight year old daughter the water bottle to use. THE FIRST DAY! She brought it home from school and said, “I can’t drink out of this, it has rust at the bottom.” It did NOT have rust on the bottom when I gave it to her. I thought perhaps it was mold or something so took the lid off and looked in. Here’s a photo – yep, rust!

Then I examined the exterior of the bottle. Where the bottom of the bottle was  connected there was a strange white limish substance oozing out of the rim. WHAT?!?!?! Here’s a photo of that – I had a hard time getting a clear picture with my camera, but you get the idea – what is that stuff?

Next I poured the remaining water from only ONE DAY of exposure of the bottle into a clear glass. Let me assure you people, this water went in to the bottle CLEAR and fresh. This horrid stuff filled with rust and gosh only knows what. This is what my daughter was drinking after it was inside the SubZero Water Bottle. I made this photo large – I want you to see how disgusting that is – DISGUSTING!

I was downright horrified. Although I did not save my receipts from Walgreen’s (uh yeah… very stupid) I DID save the SubZero tags and re-examined them. “Made in China” and distributed by SUBZERO / Global Advantage in Missouri. Today I will be sending Walgreen’s and SubZero a link to this review – SUBZERO PLEASE TAKE THIS PRODUCT OFF THE MARKET! This should NOT be happening after one day of use – our children need fresh, clean, drinking water and I was very disappointed with it and found it is NOT the green product you are touting it to be.

SPECIAL UPDATE:

WOW!!! www.H20x2.com saw this post and has agreed to send new water bottles out so we can try a better brand - AND - is going to sponsor a $50 gift certificate contest during the Gardening Nude "Mexican Green Living Blog Adventure 2009".

I'll be blogging for 14 days straight talking about eco- and environmental adventures and green living starting 3/21 and www.H20x2.com will be joining us. Tune in to win a free FUNCTIONING and WONDERFUL waterbottle from H20x2.com!

Woot! Thank you H20x2.com – you rock!!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Comments

[Mary Newman]

We will be returning the 2 that my son just bought at Walgreens today. Thank you!

[Ajlouny]

Gross, you keep saying that it shouldn't happen after one day of use, yet, this shouldn't happen at all. I would be just as horrified.

[Yo Mamma]

well dont expect much, you got it at a walgreens.

[bananachunks]

That's unfortunate to have happened. I myself, in the last four months or so, have purchased seven of these bottles, mostly the tall one, but a few of the "shorties" as well. I figured that the price could not be beat if they were to get lost, start leaking, etc. So far I've not come across this in any of mine. I've even left them sitting on the counter full of liquid for a week or so at a time (lazy!) with no problems. I use mine for water (both tap and filtered) and the occasional outside event alcoholic beverage. I'll definitely keep my eyes on them, but as I said, so far so good. And just a tip for others with these or any other bottles like it, denture cleaner is fantastic for cleaning!

[Ron Trudeau]

I bought two of these bottles last year and use every day with no problems. I make and use my own distilled water and have not notice rust or anything else in bottle. Is it possible you have a high content of metals in your drinking water supply that may have cause this problem? If possible based on what we now know today, I believe, that no one should buy anything made in China let alone anything made of any kind of metal/plastic. Ron.

[Tunde]

Sud-zero water bottles are horrible! I bought one as a gift for a friend, one for myself and one for my daughter. After the first day she took it to school, she said "I couldn't drink it, it smells and tastes discusting". We gave it another try the next day and once again the water inside the bottle smelled and tasted discusting.

I found a better use for these water bottles. Don't throw them out, use it as a piggy-bank. Put all your coins in them. Keep it in your car, inside a cup holder. Works for me and nobody would think there is change inside it. Just a thought.

[Shawna Coronado]

UPDATE:

SubZero DID get a hold of me and I have returned this bottle to them so they can analyze it.

They asked me if I wanted more of their bottles and I said no, but I did accept a SubZero gift - they sent me some insulated bags to "replace" the bottles.

I hope they are able to solve this problem soon.

Meanwhile, www.H20x2.com sent me some bottles to try and I took them on the Mexican Eco-Adventure (http://bit.ly/3YKee) with much success.

Best wishes all - I hope you have better luck with your SubZero bottles than I did.

[Amjad]

Holy Cow! I just brought two of these damn bottles today from a local supermarket call Stop & Shop and paid $10.00 bucks. I didn't even notice that these bottles had a seem at the bottom. After reading your review I ran to my refrigerator to inspect the bottles. I will be keeping a close eye on theses bottles and see how they do after a day or so. I did keep my receipts and tags to the bottles and I will be returning them if they are in problems.

Thank you so much for writing this review its a life saver. I am tried of buying stuff made in China this we need more quality products made in the USA.

[Juliano]

I got one of the exact same Sub-Zero bottle from Walmart (on sale). Same thing is happening, leaking on the seam, and a white stuff accumulating as well. :(

Haven't noticed any rust inside yet but will watch it carefully now.

Also I sent a message to an e-mail that was printed on the bottle (info@stratebrand.com) including macro pictures and will wait to see what they say.

Good to have found this post.

[Melanie]

I'm so happy to have read this post. I would not trust any aluminum bottle's liner, either.

Keep up the good work, www.h2Ox2.com !

[Cameron]

Yuck! Glad there are options!

We just started making our own sparkling water AND soft drinks! I just reviewed our product (we paid for our Penguin) on my gardening blog.

Cheers,
Cameron
Defining Your Home Garden

http://definingyourhome.blogspot.com/2009/03/making-our-own-sparkling-water-and.html

[Danelle]

I have seen these bottles and as a manufacturer of a leading stainless steel bottle company, environmental advocate and consumer, I am concerned about the quality of this bottle as well and the claims it is making. We just saw these appear at our local Walgreens and noticed the seams, and inserts also. Really concerning and it gives the rest of us a bad name! Try CynerGreen bottles - good for you, good for your family, safe, manufactured with care, concern and the consumer in mind.

[JR]

Man, that is scary. I just bought 4 of these bottles!! I will have to watch them carefully. Thanks for the posting this!

[Kylee from Our Little Acre]

Wow, Shawna. I would be furious. I have a metal one I got from Life Is Good and one by Sigg. Both have been great - no problems at all.

[Shawna Coronado]

WOW!!! H20x2.com saw this post and has agreed to send new water bottles out so we can try a better brand - AND - is going to sponsor a $50 gift certificate contest during the Gardening Nude "Mexican Green Living Blog Adventure 2009".

I'll be blogging for 14 days straight talking about eco- and environmental adventures and green living starting 3/21 and H20x2.com will be joining us.

Woot! Thank you H20x2.com!!

[Emily]

This makes me really glad that I sprang for the Sigg bottles. No rust, and they've been in use for a few years now.

I'm glad your daughter knew not to drink it! Poor thing :-(

I hope Walgreen AND Global Advantage yank this very unsafe product.

[Shawna Coronado]

Update - contacted Global Advantage and they said they would follow up on this, we'll see what they say.

Contacted Walgreen's, was referred to two different people in the org, then sent to consumer relations. Had to leave a message as they are only open two hours per day for consumer questions apparently.

Yikes.

[Dwight Zahringer]

Wow, this is horrible. I forwarded this post to one of my customers over at http://www.H2oX2.com who I am sure will follow up.

[Sherry]

Oh my. That is totally disgusting and extremely upsetting. It's getting so hard lately, plastic bottles are questionable but then the proposed solutions aren't always any better.

I hope that the company reads this and addresses the problem - and refunds your money!