How many of you have a SIGG bottle (or a knockoff)  in your cupboard?  They have some seriously stylish, sexy bottles out you can buy now.  They were the rage –it seemed like in my yoga classes!

$25 for a stainless steel stylish bottle?! Well you know what, my purchase of the SIGG was a LEMON! Really sexy looking bottles don’t always result in good performance, LOL.

First, the bottle is very lightweight and slippery. Which lead to dropping it on the first weekend I had it. Results= BIG DENT.  Big dents mean they might not stand up straight anymore!

Second, it is very hard to clean. It’s not a dishwasher safe bottle nor would it fit properly and since the mouth part is so narrow- it’s hard to the grime out.  You really need a special scrub brush to clean the top part.

These bottles didn’t really work for me.

GUESS WHAT?

SIGG (from Switzerland) bottles are still testing as BPA free, however, the knockoffs from China and elsewhere might not be completely BPA free.  And some of the earlier models of the SIGG had a water based epoxy liner which may have trace amounts of BPA.  (Visit TreeHugger  for the complete story).   SIGG is making a gigantic effort to be completely BPA free as you can read from this letter here (SEO Steve). There is a new EcoCare Liner in the SIGG bottles manufactured after August 2008 that are completely BPA free but if you bought one earlier than that you have the right to exchange yours.

You can read about their exchange program here.

CAMELBAK has an exchange program as well. Taken from a PR email that I received.

CamelBak introduced its “Steel of a Deal” program today, offering a free CamelBak insulated stainless steel water bottle to consumers who send in a photo of their aluminum water bottle with a liner containing Bisphenol A (BPA).  The photos should depict ways which consumers are recycling these aluminum bottles.  The first 500 participating consumers will receive an insulated CamelBak Better Bottle™ Stainless water bottle, a $30 retail value, absolutely free.  CamelBak’s stainless steel bottles are made with medical-grade stainless steel which, unlike aluminum bottles, does not need an epoxy liner.

Consumers are asked to email photos of their aluminum water bottles containing BPA liners to promotions@camelbak.com.   A list of bottles that contain liners with BPA is available at http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/sigg-bottles-now-bpa-free.php. For complete details about participating in CamelBak’s “Steel of a Deal” program, please visit the CamelBak Products FaceBook Page or call the CamelBak consumer services team at 800.767.8725.

So now what?

Anybody know if we can recycle our old bottles?