We do our environmental homework before we become part of a community and maintain continuous monitoring to ensure the water resources are sustainable long-term. We believe each spring water source should be there 100 years from now and that we must follow good land-use and aquifer management practices. We must know what's being withdrawn from the source and how fast it's being replenished. The health of the aquifer is paramount to us.
The water we collect is used for people to drink! It all begins with selecting a viable spring water source that will be stable, abundant and yield high-quality, great-tasting water. We use both traditional methods and sophisticated science to perform a detailed site selection assessment, comprehensive hydrologic studies to determine the spring's safe yield and evaluation of nearby water supplies.
Spring Sources
In preliminary study of a spring source, Poland Spring develops a thorough understanding of a spring's flow rate and capacity; the area of the aquifer; its thickness and composition; the size of the recharge area and the average rate of recharge; water quality; mineral content; and other characteristics.
We must be certain that our water use will have no significant impact on the environment, our neighbors, or nearby streams. Our goal is to determine whether the water resource could be used sustainably as a Poland Spring source, and whether the water's mineral content and quality is consistent with Poland Spring's other spring sources. Once a source has satisfied our internal standards, development of that source is subject to a multi-layered regulatory review process including federal, state, and local authorities. Once operational, we are absolutely committed to the sustainable management of that source. After all, it is the basis of our business.
Facilities, Recycling and Packaging
A “gentle footprint” is our approach to constructing our newest facilities. “Green buildings” significantly reduce or eliminate negative impact on the environment and its occupants. This is our commitment to the design and construction practices of our newest bottling facilities. All of our new plants are constructed to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.
LEED standards help increase energy and water efficiency, and reduce the environmental impact of our facilities. Improvements over standard construction include improved site water management and indoor air quality; reduced construction waste; use of local and recycled construction material, as well as indigenous landscaping; and water and energy conservation features.
Learn more about our LEED certified facilities and what features ensure our facilities meet LEED certification criteria. Currently, our Maine plants are recycling 91 percent of our waste stream - good quality cardboard boxes are sold for reuse; mixed corrugate and office paper is recycled; low-density polyethylene from wraps and cap bags is recycled and turned into plastic products; and PET and HDPE bottles are also recycled.
We are also beginning to examine the lifecycle impacts of our products from sourcing to manufacturing through recycling or disposal. Lifecycle analyses allow us to carefully assess products at each stage in their development in order to minimize their overall environmental footprint.
