A beverage company is facing backlash after a shopper came across their seemingly overpriced and redundant product at the store, sparking an important conversation about whether the energy and resources that went into its development were a waste.
What's happening?
In the r/Anticonsumption community, a Redditor shared a photo of HFactor's self-professed "unprecedented" hydrogen-infused water, highlighting the astonishing marketing campaign that had the comments section buzzing with one simple truth: Water, or H2O, already contains two parts hydrogen.
"Tell me a company doesn't know chemistry without telling me," one person suggested.
That said, another corrected them on that point, saying the product is actually molecular hydrogen, aka H2, dissolved into water, noting that "there are real studies possibly showing health benefits," though they stopped short of endorsing those studies or the product outright.
"Too early to tell, but it's actual hydrogen-infused water and all the 'haha there's hydrogen in water' [comments] are idiotic," they added.
Overall, commenters were not impressed with the unusual water's price of $3.99 for 20 ounces.
"Tap water with a fancy name and a price to match. Seems legit," another wrote, to which someone replied, "And a weird plastic bag," in reference to the pouch packaging surrounding one aluminum can.
Why is this important?
In today's world, Americans have practically unlimited options when it comes to from which brands they want to buy products — and the volume of advertising campaigns seems to support that. Siteefy estimates that the average person sees up to 10,000 ads every day.
🗣️ Should companies be required to help recycle their own products?
🔘 Definitely 👍
🔘 No way 👎
🔘 It depends on the product 🤔
🔘 They should get tax breaks instead 💰
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
While the original poster appears to have stumbled across this water during their daily routine rather than through an outside ad, the situation nonetheless raised the question of whether the new product has merit or is a gimmick. It also raises the question of whether we really need more single-use water brands, and the unusual packaging shown in the Redditor's image is worth examining too.
Plastics are usually made from dirty fuels, with one study indicating they are part of a "vicious circle" exacerbating rising global temperatures, which in turn cause plastics to wear out sooner. However, producing more plastic creates more planet-warming pollution — hence the cycle.
According to the U.N. Environment Programme, trends suggest the world is on track to manufacture around 1.2 million tons of plastic annually by 2050. As the material takes tens to hundreds of years to break down, it overwhelmingly ends up in landfills or polluting our ecosystems.
Why would HFactor market its product this way?
It appears HFactor is well aware of the potential for criticism, writing cheekily on its website, "We Know... Water Already Has Hydrogen, As In H2O."
The company continues to make the case that past research has suggested there may be benefits to infusing water with extra hydrogen.
While HFactor doesn't cite any specific studies or body of work on its website, The Cool Down tracked down analysis on the matter, with one study finding hydrogen-enriched water may help facilitate lung and blood recovery from the effects of air pollution. Another suggests it may improve stamina during exercise.
However, other studies have found no clear benefits of hydrogen-infused water, while another highlights the need for more investigation into the matter.
As for the plastic pouch, HFactor explains that the design is part of its sustainability initiative, as shipping one truckload of the slim pouches would be equivalent to 26 truckloads of glass bottles. With many trucks still running on dirty fuels, reducing the amount of shipments eliminates pollution associated with transport.
What can I do to reduce plastic waste?
Regardless of whether you're intrigued by hydrogen-infused water or not, it is clear that plastic pollution is a growing global crisis. Fortunately, for those curious about its products, HFactor has also partnered with TerraCycle so that its customers can freely and easily ship their pouches for proper recycling.
That said, plastic recycling is often decried by experts as a "failed concept," with only 5% of plastic products recycled in 2021, including more conventional recycling options. So, it's a safe bet that many customers will never follow the proper steps to recycle a TerraCycle-packaged product, as admirable as it is to ensure the product is recyclable versus requiring that it end up in a landfill.
For that reason, along with the fact that plastic is produced by using oil byproducts and helps to fund the dirty energy industry, glass and aluminum containers are generally considered to be more sustainable since they are infinitely recyclable and do get recycled at higher rates. HFactor's aluminum can is thus an encouraging option toward reducing waste and more in line with Liquid Death.
All that said, any single-use product is bad for the environment, regardless of the packaging. The best way to reduce waste in this space is to ditch single-use water bottles altogether — and to find reusable, plastic-free alternatives more broadly. For example, silicone food containers, sturdy cloth grocery bags, and shampoo and conditioner bars are among the options that can cut down on landfill waste, which contributes unnecessary planet-warming gases to the atmosphere over time, while saving you some cash in the long run.
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