Green Message in a Bottle
What Customers Want
Dianne Martz is with Sustainable Life Solutions, a retailer of sustainable living products, including reusable bottles, in Bolton, MA. Generally, she says, customers look for a few key qualities in a reusable bottle:
- Sturdiness. “They’re worried about denting and breakage, especially if they have children.”
- Attractiveness. “Color and style do matter, as does a well known brand name.”
- Taste quality. “Some people are sensitive to a metallic taste with metal bottles, and prefer glass or ceramic.”
- Cap style. “Some prefer a sports cap that they can drink from; others prefer to remove the cap and drink straight from the bottle. It’s highly individualized.”
- Cost. “They need to believe that they are getting good value for their money, and the prices on reusable bottles can be a bit shocking to some folks.”
- Ability to fit in a car cup holder.
- Ease of cleaning. “Being able to run through a dishwasher is a huge plus.”