- Our homework is meant to help us find a viable spring water source that will provide a stable and abundant resource, with yield high-quality, great-tasting water.
- We use both traditional and sophisticated science to perform a detailed site selection assessment, comprehensive studies to determine the spring’s capacity and evaluation of nearby water supplies.
- The long-term health of the aquifer is paramount to us – we believe each spring water source should be there for 100 years and beyond.
- We investigate what’s being withdrawn from the source and how fast it’s being replenished to determine if the spring can meet existing needs as well as those we have over the long run.
- We follow good land-use and water source protection practices.
Responsible resource management and water resource relations are proponents of our Good Neighbor Policy.
To learn more about our environmental practices, please visit our Environmental Stewardship page on our corporate Web site: http://www.Nestle-watersna.com/Menu/Environmental.htm.
We are committed to working with the local community, elected officials and city staff when defining and complying with the process, review, and permitting necessary to site and build a new spring water bottling facility. In addition to taking the steps required at the local level, we also meet the statewide policies and standards in place in Washington and Oregon, respectively, when conducting a thorough environmental review of the project.
In Washington State, any new spring water bottling facility must be reviewed under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) to ensure everyone understands the benefits and trade-offs that a new facility would bring to a community. This includes looking at air, transportation, energy, lighting and a host of other environmental topics in depth, sharing the findings with the community, and determining the best path forward.
In Oregon State, local permitting rules will apply and Nestlé will coordinate with all state and local departments that are involved in the building permit and environmental review process for a project of this size and scale.
- As part of our commitment to the environment, NWNA designs all of its new bottling facilities to meet LEED standards (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council for sustainable building practices and will do so in the Northwest as well.
- NWNA is committed to protecting the long-term health of the environment and sustainability of all of our resources, including water. After all, we are dependent on the wise use of natural resources for our business.
- NWNA’s operations have the lowest environmental footprint of any comparable U.S. beverage producing company and we are committed to reducing our footprint every day.
- We are aware that people have questions about bottled water. Our company is participating in those conversations and striving to make continued improvements, including implementing our new “Eco-Shape” bottle, which is 25-35% smaller than bottles previously distributed.
- We manage our distribution systems to minimize traffic impacts on communities and work with local traffic networks.
- We locate our bottling facilities close to our markets to reduce vehicle miles traveled required to deliver our products.
- Our staff is working hard to be at the forefront of research and innovation on recycling and renewable bottle design and materials.