sustainability
sustainability by design
Lena Jüngst & Tim Jäger co-founded air up® with a life-centred approach, aiming to give people a small push into a more sustainable and healthier consumption behaviour. We call it sustainability by design.
- 1 pod flavours at least 5 Litres of water, which could lead to a reduction of 5x 1l plastic bottles per pod. This means air up® pods need up to 88% less plastic* than the pre-filled drink alternative.
- The transportation of our flavour pods is ca. 99% more efficient* than 500mL single-use water bottles.
- It’s a reusable system that allows you to replace whatever breaks! Broken strap? Lost straw? Cracked body? You can get a spare part for each component of the air up® drinking system easily via our online store.
*Please scroll to the bottom of the page (a few questions and answers)to read in more detail about the topic above.
sustainability by design
Lena Jüngst & Tim Jäger co-founded air up® with a life-centred approach, aiming to give people a small push into a more sustainable and healthier consumption behaviour. We call it sustainability by design.
- 1 pod flavours at least 5 Litres of water, which could lead to a reduction of 5x 1l plastic bottles per pod. This means air up® pods need up to 88% less plastic* than the pre-filled drink alternative.
- The transportation of our flavour pods is ca. 99% more efficient* than 500mL single-use water bottles.
- It’s a reusable system that allows you to replace whatever breaks! Broken strap? Lost straw? Cracked body? You can get a spare part for each component of the air up® drinking system easily via our online store.
*Please scroll to the bottom of the page (a few questions and answers)to read in more detail about the topic above.
what we’ve done and what’s to come
Sustainability is always work in progress. Why? Because sustainability is a journey, not a destination.
Now, we’re not perfect, but we are constantly looking for ways to think new and level up our sustainability efforts.
So, take a look at the videos to hear from a few of our air uppies on how we have been and will be making an effort to level up.
pod usage and disposal
Our pods are easily switchable and disposable. Simply put the pod back in the transparent case and pouch and pop on a new one.
- The pod and transparent case go into the plastic bin.
- The pouch goes into the household bin.
Remember – How to dispose of the pod and packaging may differ in your area. Please check with your local municipality on recycling guidance for different materials.
pod usage and disposal
Our pods are easily switchable and disposable. Simply put the pod back in the transparent case and pouch and pop on a new one.
- The pod and transparent case go into the plastic bin.
- The pouch goes into the household bin.
Remember – How to dispose of the pod and packaging may differ in your area. Please check with your local municipality on recycling guidance for different materials.
why use tap water?
The best way to use the air up® drinking system is by filling the bottle with tap water. Why?
- It’s accessible, affordable, and safe to drink for most people.*
- It can replace single-use plastic bottles, which means less heavy trucks with pre-filled drinks on the roads.
- Any tap with safe drinking water becomes a tasty air up® refill station.
*Please scroll to the bottom of the page (a few questions and answers)to read in more detail about the topic above.
why use tap water?
The best way to use the air up® drinking system is by filling the bottle with tap water. Why?
- It’s accessible, affordable, and safe to drink for most people.*
- It can replace single-use plastic bottles, which means less heavy trucks with pre-filled drinks on the roads.
- Any tap with safe drinking water becomes a tasty air up® refill station.
*Please scroll to the bottom of the page (a few questions and answers)to read in more detail about the topic above.
a few questions and answers.
Most tap water in the central Europe and provided by major suppliers is safe drinking water. If you are uncertain about water quality in your area, or when traveling, check online with the relevant provider or municipality first. In some areas, tap water may require filtering or purifying for safe drinking. Use filtered or purified water, if you are unsure about the source or safety of the tap water you are using. The air up® system itself does not filter or purify water.
Using air up® pods to flavour tap water can lead to up to 88% less plastic waste when compared to buying single-use flavoured drinks.
How have we come to that number?
Well, we’re glad you asked! So: 1 pod flavours at least 5 litres of water, which can lead to a reduction of 5 plastic bottles per pod. This means that 1 pouch (that contains 3 pods) flavours at least 15 litres of water. With pre-filled single-use drinks, this would require 15 1-litre bottles.
An air up® pouch with 3 pods weighs 35g (8g for the pouch, 7.5g per pod and 1.3g per blister). If you compare this to the same amount of pre-bottled drinks, this can require almost ten times more plastic - around 300g for 15 1-litre bottles. In relative terms, this means our pods = 88% less plastic waste compared to single-use plastic bottles.
We think it’s safe to say that transporting our pods is more efficient than transporting pre-filled drinks. But, here’s a better breakdown in terms of what that means for transportation and pollution:
For air up®, 1 container can transport around 144,000 3-pod pouches (or 432,000 individual pods), which flavours up to 2,100,000 litres of water. For bottled drinks, 1 container can transport roughly 35,000 single-use water bottles at 16.9 oz (500ml) per bottle. The volume of water that 1 container of air up® pods can flavour equals 119 containers of single-use 16.9 oz (500mL) water bottles.Overall, this means the transportation of our flavour pods is up to 99% more efficient in comparison to 16.9 oz (500mL) single-use water bottles.
Our bottles are proudly made of Tritan, a high-quality and resistant plastic. Because of this, we encourage our customers to keep and use their air up® bottles for years. In case any part of the bottle gets damaged, such as the straw, mouthpiece, or lid, we offer spare parts on our online store to make it re-re-re-re-re-usable!
Our steel bottles are made of high-quality stainless steel, with a powder-coated exterior. Along with double-wall insulation, our steel bottles boast the ability to keep your water cool for up to 14 hours!
We initially started producing our products in China because we had no contacts and too little production volumes for European partners. From the very beginning, we’ve been keen on two main things; bringing our products closer to our customers as quickly as possible, and reducing our footprint accordingly. We let our actions speak - After all, sustainability requires action not lip service.
So, here are some of our milestones (some achieved, some planned) that we’re so proud of:
End of 2021: Pod production facility in Turkey and warehouses in France and the UK opened
October 2022: Warehouse opening in the Netherlands
November 2022: Pod production facility opening in the Netherlands (yes, there will be a grand opening. And if you think we’ll be celebrating that by toasting with bottles of tap water, you’re 100% correct).
November 2022: Tritan bottle production facility opening in Austria (please see above for rules on a grand opening).
2023: Steel bottle production facility opening in Germany (grand opening details TBC, but are likely to once again include bottles of tap water. You can see the theme here…).
These milestones will enable us to have around 90% of our pods and the majority of our bottles produced in Europe by the end of 2023.
Our goal is crystal clear: level up sustainability by design along the entire product lifecycle. To achieve this, 2 main elements have been identified:
1. Start at the beginning. Every time we design something, (products, packaging, our supply chain, etc), let's do it in a way that reduces waste to a minimum and, ultimately, closes the loop.
2. Work in iterations. Start small, work up. Improve every time, and learn from the previous iteration. This is why sustainability at air up® is always a work in progress.
The path forward isn’t always the most straightforward, but we are committed to carving out the right one, regardless of the time it takes to get there.
We’ll be the first to tell you we aren’t perfect. Playing the long game requires a lot of planning and iterating, and oftentimes, stumbling. But you can count on us to keep on trying to get better to putting in the work, and keeping you up to date every step of the way.
