Michele Bassi and her product H20 Box.

Boxes are used to store just about everything under the sun, so with the growing problem of plastic water bottles polluting our parks, ocean, beaches and communities, why isn’t water being sold in boxes?

The idea dawned on Watsonville resident Dean Bassi about two years ago and when he shared it with his wife, Michele, she agreed. Today, Michele is preparing for this weekend’s Natural Product Expo West in Anaheim, where she will unveil her new product — H20 Box.

H20 Box is bottled water without the bottle. Instead, water is stored in a carton made of 70 percent paper. Bassi says the container, if not recycled, will completely decompose in seven years, as opposed the 1,000-year life cycle of a plastic bottle. To make the product even more green, the cartons are made from trees harvested in “well-managed forests,” where trees are replaced at a higher rate than they are cut; the water, which is purified using reverse osmosis filtration and UV disinfection, is bottled in northern California. Even the cartons, the way they stack efficiently for easier shipping, is meant to reduce the carbon footprint of the product.

“If you need a package of water for convenience, your carbon footprint with this is much smaller than a plastic bottle,” Michele Bassi said.

So far, Bassi said, the response to the product has been very good. The 16.9-ounce boxes, which should start appearing in local stores soon, will be sold for between $1.29 and $1.75. In addition to being better for the environment, the product also has other benefits. The carton blocks out all light and stays fresh longer, up to two years. Consumers can also refill and reuse the boxes.

Michele Bassi said similar products already exist in Europe and Canada and others will be arriving in the United States soon.

“We know we’re just one of the first, and certainly won’t be the last,” Bassi said. “We’ll need to partner with them eventually.”

Her husband, a beverage distributor, came upon the idea after seeing wine marketed in similar cartons, and after being asked how possible bans on plastic water bottles in San Jose and San Francisco would affect his business.

“Well, I don’t deliver to those cities, so it wouldn’t affect me, but at the same time I thought, ‘there has got to be a better way of getting water out there in a recyclable bottle that is not bad for the environment, so I talked to Michele and said, ‘you know what? you can put wine in a box, why not water?’"

It started a long process for the pair. The trademark had to be approved, as did the container, the water being put in the container and more. It took Bassis two years to get their product ready to market and sell. Bean Creek Studios in Scotts Valley designed the box and most of the printing work was done locally by Pajaro Valley Printing.

“A lot of legal mumbo jumbo has taken a long time, but we're ready to go,” Michele Bassi said. “We’ve done our part; we’ve created it. Now we are asking for consumers to buy it.”

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To find out more about H20 Box or to contact the Bassis, go online at www.drinkh2obox.com or call (831) 750-9016. You can also follow the company on Twitter at H2oboxwater.



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