Launching my business

Once upon a time there was a surly conservative who married a golden haired liberal. Now these two people seem to never agree on anything related to politics, the environment or even the basis for viable business. That is until one day when the liberal said “these plastic bottles that our kids use have been shown to leach a nasty substance called BPA that has been linked to developmental problems in kids as well as breast cancer in women”. The ever skeptical conservative did a bit of research and, sure enough, plastic cups and water bottles are rife with the stuff. 

A search for alternatives resulted in stainless steel bottles, but the technically trained Dad was perplexed as to why all of these bottles still had a plastic cap. “What is the point of using a non-plastic bottle if you are still drinking through a plastic cap” exclaimed the frustrated conservative. “We can do better”. A bit more research led the couple, who for years had been arguing about the economics of “green” living, to the sad realization that 38 billion plastic water bottles end up in landfills every year; enough to circle the globe 150 times and it takes 700 years for them to decompose. Just as disturbing was the fact that a single 1 liter bottle requires 5 liters of water and ¼ liter of oil to manufacture and costs 9,000 times that of tap water. Sadly, this incredible waste of natural resources is perpetuated by Madison Ave marketing hype as one realizes that 40% of bottled water is simply tap water and the vogue “island waters” have an absurd carbon footprint.

For once the ever skeptical dad and the liberal damsel saw eye-to-eye; there is no analysis, politically-based bias or expert opinion needed: bottled water is ravaging our planet and wasting scarce natural resources. Furthermore, the chemicals that ooze from reusable plastic containers and the funky linings in aluminum bottles have been proven to cause health problems and are clearly not appropriate for kids.

As a result, Pura Stainless was created with a simple vision: to make a difference by responsibly manufacturing a safe & durable alternative to plastic cups and the ever-present bottled water. The company has prospered by providing cost effective lifestyle products that convey a compelling message to all who see them; one that conservatively says “I am doing my part to make our planet better and safer for future generations”. In these dire economic times, we cannot afford to feed our kids from nasty plastic bottles; nor can we afford to waste natural resources and create vast amounts of garbage in the name of convenience.

Now back to our couple and the moral of the story: the best ideas and the most grounded businesses come from a diversity of opinion, a willingness to listen, and a clear understanding of the facts.

Pura   One Life… One Bottle©

Advice for others

The moral of our story is: a) a diversity of ideas leads to a better company and b) the key to a viable business is to uniquely solve real problems.  While this sounds simple, it is often difficult to see through personal bias and product ideas that, while interesting, do not solve compelling problems.  Our founders were able to meld the best of conservative and liberal thought to create products that solve the far reaching issues of toxin leaching plastic bottles and the bottled water addiction