Fiji Water goes green

Fiji Fiji Water is about to make a big splash in the domestic bottled water industry, announcing plans Wednesday to become carbon negative, that is, to make more than make up for the greenhouse gasses released in the production of its product. The company also announced goals for using renewable energy, preserving forests and conserving water.

“Our existence has been a strong net positive for the economy of Fiji, and we don’t want to be any less than that on climate change,” said Thomas Mooney, Fiji Water’s senior vice president for sustainable growth.

As part of its plans, the company will install a windmill in 2009 to provide energy to its bottling plant in Fiji, located in the South Pacific, will employ biodiesel and other alternative fuels in its trucks and as a backup at its plant and it will reduce the amount of plastic and paper it uses for bottles and cartons. The Fiji Water Foundation, let by Fiji’s owners Lynda and Stewart Resnick, has pledged money to protect the Yarqara Valley watershed, the main source of Fiji Water, and to preserve the Sovi Basin, a rainforest that is home to many plant and animal species.

The announcement comes after a period in which environmental groups attacked the bottled-water industry for selling an unnecessary product at great environmental cost, thought Mooney argues Fiji’s plans were in the works long before that.