If you’ve been in the market for a handy, reusable water bottle in the past, you’ve probably heard about Dopper at least once. Their iconic design can’t easily be missed and especially in Belgium and the Netherlands, many sustainably-minded people can be seen carrying one around. More recently, the firm has been in the news because they managed to already sucre multiple awards in 2023 alone, amongst which the Red Dot Award and the Cradle to Cradle Certified Gold certificate. Much fuss about a water bottle, you’d think, so what’s the story behind the brand and what’s so different about their bottles?
Of course, the goal of all reusable water bottles should be pretty much the same: reduce waste, consume local water. But its the many bottle brands around these days, making a good choice can seem pretty fussy. Plastic or metal? Big or small? Cheap or expensive? There’s a lot to take into account and having tried quite a few options myself, I’m going to be honest: Dopper ticks a lot of boxes. It’s not too expensive, it’s light, it’s easy to clean and you can even turn it into a glass, which might be great if you’re carrying around something else than water or if you simply can’t be bothered to drink from a bottle. The design hasn’t changed since 2010 (even though they now also do insulated stainless steel and glass bottles) when the product as launched by Merijn Everaarts and the only real issue seemed to be the material: plastic. Which is a bit controversial when you want to battle plastic waste.
Plant-based waste
However, to everything its solution and Dopper seems to have found that solution. Since 2022, the Dopper Original is made with 70% plant-based waste and 15% recycled plastic waste. Plant-based waste can sound a bit vague so, more precisely, we’re talking about sunflower-, rapeseed flower- and corn oils and residues that have been turned into safe, strong and recyclable polypropylene (PP). Why not find something completely plastic-free, you ask? Well, Dopper actually believes that plastic, when used wisely, can be a very user-friendly and durable material.
Moreover, as we said before, Dopper has now obtained the Cradle to Cradle Certified Gold certificate. That means their products are made in fair working conditions, with 100% safe, recyclable materials free of BPA or other toxins. As all their bottles are made in the Netherlands, they are very local as well, meaning transportation is kept to a minimum. Or like they say so themselves: they want to give us, as customers, as little excuse as possible to still buy single use plastic water bottles. And in all fairness, I think they’ve managed to meet that goal.
