Is every stainless steel bottle created equal? The story of two bowls.

There are two stainless steel mixing bowls in my kitchen cupboard.  One feels more solid and has aged gracefully with use, the scratches seem to absorb into the worn smooth metal surface, which remains a dignified matt grayish colour.  The second, bought at a discount store (albeit under the brand name of a TV personality), has taken a distinct yellow tinge and is showing tarnish, its surface still artificially glossy.

We often talk to customers about choosing high quality stainless steel, but here I can actually see the difference.  Clearly, the quality affects how it wears and potentially the toxins that it may impart to food or liquids stored inside.


There are important features to look for when choosing a reusable stainless steel bottle. Stainless steel is always made using chromium, because it is what makes steel "stainless".  Other elements used include nickel, nitrogen and molybdenum.   These elements can leach into liquids, so it is important that the bottle is made from high quality, 18/8 food-grade stainless steel – but, it is also important that you trust the manufacturer is telling the truth when they say what the bottle is made from.

Some will aim to make the bottle from the thinnest and cheapest stainless steel they can in order to reduce manufacturing costs and hence increase profits.

Other features are also important:
Are the lids made from a BPA-free plastic and are the leak proof?
Can you see sharp corners or joins where dirt and bacteria can build up?
Can you buy a replacement lid without buying a whole new bottle?
Does the manufacturer provide a guarantee?

Consider who the manufacturer is.  Do they have a long history of quality, who are the real people behind the company and what is their story?  In 2004, Klean Kanteen was the first company to make a water bottle from stainless steel.  They have continued to lead the way constantly innovating with the range they offer.  Nathan is a top sports hydration company making high quality stainless steel bottles with a clever straw drinking mechanism.  Perhaps the grandparent of all stainless steel is Thermos, whose name has become synonymous with insulated bottles for hot water.  Many of us grew up taking “the thermos” on a picnic.

From an environmental point of view, is a stainless steel bottle more eco friendly than a plastic bottle?

A Life Cycle assessment study published in the New York Times in 2009, considered the environmental and health impact of stainless steel bottle from the extraction and processing of its ingredients, to its manufacture, distribution, use and final disposal.  It found that if your stainless steel bottle takes the place of 50 plastic bottles, the climate is better off.    So when you buy a bottle, make sure it is one that will last hundreds of uses.  ‘Buy quality less often’ we always suggest at Biome.

From a human point of view, who made the bottle and was that person treated fairly and compensated for their time?  This is the hardest criteria to judge because few of us can actually visit the factories in China where most of the bottles are made.  We can at least always go to the manufacturer’s website and ensure they have published a statement about their factory and worker conditions.  If the bottle has a unique shape, such as Klean Kanteen or Nathan, it is more likely to be made at factory that the company directly oversees.

I treasure my well-aged stainless steel bowl.  We use it every day for washing fruit and vegetables, mixing recipes, whipping cream, bathing injuries.  So much so, that I thought a second bowl would be a handy addition.  Sadly, I did not repeat the luck with the quality of our first bowl and the newer, yellow tinged compatriot sits idle in the cupboard.

Moving on unwelcome house guests (pests)...with compassion!

Having spent many years living in the "well-ventilated" old wooden Queenslander houses of Brisbane's inner suburbs, I am on pleasant terms with the crawling, flying, vermin community that shares our love of the leafy area.

From Uni student days when the Brisbane City Council's rat catcher arrived with his frenzied Terrier and condemned a metropolis of rats in the backyard shed, to huge flying cockroaches that so impolitely drop onto your lap with no care for the interruption.

I have always avoided chemical sprays due to allergies and as a long-time vegetarian I have not the heart to kill a creature.  At Biome, we believe in respect and compassion for all who share our planet, so dilemnas over pest control that are both non-toxic and humane are not new to us.

We once offered a product that attracted cockroaches to a sticky-glue mat that they never left!  We soon received a polite customer email pointing out that even though they are lowly cockroaches, they do not deserve to die such an inhumane death.  That was the end of those products, and rightly so.  Someone else explained that they not only catch cockroaches, but also unlucky geckos that stumble across them...eep. We do love to get our customer's feedback to help with the deliberations.

You can understand our excitement with this new product, Pest Free, a plug in device that controls rats and cockroaches by altering the electromagnetic field already contained within a building's structure. It is an Australian-made product with 15 years of history and University testing to validate its effectiveness.  Scientific testing shows that the influence of the electromagnetic force causes loss of appetite in vermin and increases thirst, thereby disrupting their normal behaviour and reproduction.  It is not an ultrasonic product and will not effect cats, dogs, birds, computers or the electricity flow in a building. 

Having recently dealt with a voracious house guest in a not-so humane way, we hold hopes for this device. We had tolerated the noisy scurrying of a sizeable rat as it went about its noctural activities in the roof, good naturedly replaced the plastic light fittings that it consumed and learned to lock away our food because if its penchant for midnight feasts. One pitch black night, however, the rat and I met our Waterloo.  As I blearily tended to a crying child, the rat - I guess as startled as I - leapt from the kitchen bench into my face.

I searched with no success for a humane catch and release product for a huge rat.  I visited the hardware store to peruse the extermination options, but as my mind played out the gruesome scene my knees buckled.  With no solution, and with heavy heart, I handed the task to my husband and asked to be kept in the dark about whatever tactics were taken.  The rat did move on...

Replacing throw-away takeaway cups with reusable coffee cups

Are throw-away coffee cups heading for a tipping point like plastic grocery bags and bottled water?

Look in a public rubbish bin on the street and it will most likely be full of coffee cups, plastic bottles and take-away food containers.  Some of this could be recycled if there was such a facility in public places, but landfill is the only option for the plastic-coated paper coffee cups.

We have noticed in the last year a growing realisation that disposable coffee cups can not be recycled.   I was putting coffee cups in our household recycling bin until early 2009 because I did not realise.  The takeaway coffee businesses do need to better inform their customers that the cups can not be put into recycling.

Any local Council serious about reducing the amount of waste going to landfill must also address takeaway coffee cups.  As with disposable plastic water bottles and plastic bags, there seems to be only four choices:

• a ban,
• a tax or levy on the price of the item,
• a container deposit type system (so that the seller has the responsibility for recycling), or
• public education by coffee businesses and government to encourage people to bring their own cup.

Most people would likely prefer the last option.  We're doing our little part at Biome by talking to our customers and finding practical, affordable alternatives.

KeepCup reusable coffee cup - a great Australian invention made from high quality, BPA-free plastics in Australia, with an estimated lifespan of 4 years.  We had great experiences using our KeepCups over the Summer holidays.  Five of our group had a KeepCup under the tree and the coffee shops we visited were very happy for us to provide our own cups.  We were enjoying the best of our beautiful environment at the beach and it felt so good to be reducing our waste each day.  Some places even offer a discounted price if you bring your own cup. 

Klean Kanteen insulated bottle with cafe cap - a great innovation from the Klean Kanteen people.  Not only a reusable option, but the double-walled stainless steel insulated cup will keep the contents hot or cold for six hours.  You could use them for coffee, tea, soup or yoghurt.  The bottle comes with a loop cap, but you can purchase a cafe cap to transform your bottle into a sipping mug.

Cheers and tears... Captain Paul Watson's message

Recently in Brisbane, the Biome team was privileged to hear a rousing presentation by Captain Paul Watson, the Founder and President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

I did not realise the incredible 30 year journey of Captain Watson and Sea Shepherd.  He acts on the belief that the passions of individuals change the world, not governments.

Sea Shepherd will soon depart on it’s sixth Whale Defense Campaign Operation Waltzing Matilda. Sea Shepherd’s flagship Steve Irwin, will be accompanied to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary by the menacing looking and fast Ady Gil.   Previously known as Earthrace, the Ady Gil is the futuristic looking trimaran that set the world record for global circumnavigation.  Captain Watson says the Ady Gil gives them the speed to stay with the Japanese whaling fleet and physically block the harpoon ships from slaughtering whales.

He explained that the hit reality TV series, Whale Wars, has helped raise the funds to ensure they are well equipped, including acquiring the Ady Gil.

Says Captain Watson, “With these two ships, we will mount the most ambitious and aggressive effort to date to obstruct the slaughter of the whales in the Southern Ocean.”

Another of his interesting themes was that Sea Shepherd is vegan.  As defenders of all ocean wildlife and habitats, they do not eat meat or fish.  He had strong messages about depleting fish supplies.  Did you know that the pigs farmed for human consumption world-wide eat more fish than all the sharks in the ocean?

He believes you can measure intelligence by the ability of a species to know how to live in harmony...which makes many animal species much smarter that mere humans.

To help support Sea Shepherd we quickly arranged to stock these in time for Christmas gifts:
Whale Wars DVD
Whale Warriors book

Green Christmas elves set up store

Christmas train is a coming...

We have been madly preparing for Christmas and hence no posts for a while.  This is our sixth Christmas trading season at Biome and we have not worked out the magic formula for making it a breeze.  A healthy sense of humour, tolerant and compassionate work mates and plenty of sleep are a great start.

Christmas is like a fast and heavy freight train barrelling down the track towards us and if you don't leap on and ride it, you miss it...and it is not on the schedule for another 12 months.   Being able to leap on takes a tremendous amount of preparation and energy!

Of course with our eco hats on, we do think alot about encouraging consumption at Christmas.  Yet, the reality of operating in retail is that we must make Christmas work for us.  We offer our customers alternative choices for gifts and celebrations that have integrity and meaning - products where great care has been taken to consider the environmental and social impacts.

We truly appreciate all the wonderful comments about how beautiful the stores are looking.    Here are some photos of our Green Christmas displays taken by hjimagery.com

Thirsty Shingleback lizard drinks from reusable bottle

Everyone in South Australia is withering from the intense heat wave - even the hardy Shingleback lizards, known as Sleepies to the locals.

Thank goodness for a Hannah Montana SIGG bottle, its cool contents and a brave seven year old girl with a love for every little creature that crawls...

Thank you to my brother for this awesome photo.

Brisbane to have largest solar powered green Christmas tree

A sneak peek of Biome's City store Christmas window

Good on Brisvegas for laying claim to the world's largest solar powered green Christmas tree!

This year, the Christmas tree returns to the newly refurbished King George Square, where it will come alight on Friday, 27 November from 6:30pm.

The 18 metre green tree is solely powered by the sun.  The solar panel will generate 50 amps per hour, stored in five heavy duty dry cell gel batteries located inside the base of the tree.  The tree previously used 5,000 watts of power each hour.

The green Christmas Tree has a sophisticated solar powered lighting system featuring 16,000 bulbs, 250 red opaque baubles, a multi-coloured twinkling light system and a giant star made up of solar panels for the tree’s top.  

Everyone is invited to attend the free event to light the tree, with entertainment including celebrated Brisbane singer, Katie Noonan, theatre legend, Bille Brown, and Christmas Elves from Flipside Circus.

Catch some public transport to see the tree before 26 December - and while you're there, please pop by the Biome City store just down the road at 215 Adelaide Street to enjoy our beautiful green Christmas display and decorations.

Interesting update on recycling Coltan from mobile phones

We received the below informative response from Mobile Muster to explain the situation with recycling Coltan from mobile phones. Plus, it is a chance to publish another gorgeous Gorilla photo (you can download this photo as a screen saver from National Geographic).

Coltan cannot be recovered during the recycling process of circuit boards. This is because it exists in such minute quantities and is in a non-metallic form making it extremely difficult to extract.

Recently there has been some misleading information published about the widespread use of coltan in mobile phones.

Firstly, handset manufacturers require suppliers of coltan/tantalum, which is used in some handset capacitors, to verify and certify that it was not obtained from the Congo.

Secondly, many handsets do not use coltan. Some manufacturers have eliminated the use of coltan altogether and in those handsets that contain coltan its use has been significantly reduced. In a handset containing coltan, typically only one capacitor out of more than 100 would contain coltan. In such a phone, this equates to less than 0.04g of coltan, which is about 0.04% of the phone’s weight.

Although the use of coltan is being phased out, when it is used (from non-illegal sources), coltan capacitors provide superior voice quality for users, such as those with a hearing impairment

Thirdly, Tantalum (from Coltan) is used in a wide range of products, including computer motherboards, computer disc drivers, video camcorders, engine control units, surgical equipment, turbine blades in jet engines and lining chemical reactors. It was estimated that the mobile telecommunications industry used less than 2% of the yearly worldwide production (not from Africa) of tantalum.

Fourthly, the mobile telecommunications industry is working with the environmental movement and consumers to explore any other measures that could effectively safeguard the gorillas’ habitat in the DRC. Our members are involved in the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), which is a global partnership of ICT companies supported by the United Nations Environment Program and International Telecommunications Union. It promotes technologies for sustainable development and it addresses issues including: supply chains, climate change and e-waste.

How to clean SIGG, Klean Kanteen and other reusable bottles

Wash your bottles with warm, soapy water at the end of every day and let the bottle air dry upside down with the top off.   This is very important to stop mould and other deposits forming in the bottle.

Should any mineral deposits or lime scale form inside, fill your clean bottle with Distilled White Vinegar (no other kind) and let soak for 24 hours. Then rinse with warm water and one tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda and let dry.   Spots that look like "corrosion" are most likely a mineral deposit.

We recommend using filtered water where possible.   It tastes so much better--but also because water contains different minerals in every area and this may affect what happens inside your bottle.

You can also try SIGG cleaning tablets and specially-designed SIGG cleaning brush on all reusable bottles.  Please only ever use a soft brush on SIGG so as not to damage the lining.  Stainless Steel can handle a hard brush.

While all bottles are technically dishwasher-safe, we recommend not putting them in a dishwasher.  The dishwasher can damage the external paint coating and tops and seals because extreme heat expands and deteriorates the plastic.

Never freeze bottles as metal can split even with only a little water inside.   Trust us, we have seen many bottles that expanded and split.  Water does not always expand in a predictable direction!