Nantucket Boxed Water

The toxic impact of plastic pollution is a severe, growing problem. At the heart of the matter is the most conspicuous contributor, the PET plastic water bottle. Last year, approximately 50 billion plastic water bottles were used in the US. The recycling rate remains at only 23-25%, meaning that about 38 billion plastic bottles end up in our landfills, rivers, streams, oceans, and lakes, per year.

We collect our water from Shasta Springs, located on Mt. Shasta in Dunsmuir, California. Covered with self-replenishing glaciers and eternal snow, Mt. Shasta rises to an altitude of 14,162 ft.

Our water travels a long way from the place where the glaciers melt; it slowly passes through gemstone-infused rock, layered granite, green jade, and gold.

At 3,000 ft, the water springs in energetic streams from the cracks in the stone. It surfaces into caves and is untouched by human hands. Our water is preserved behind special doors, made from stainless steel; gravity fed water system helps us in water collection.

Thanks to the radiocarbon dating tests, we learned that the water is not less than a hundred years old (and possibly even 10,000). Also, we learned that it comes from 7,000 to 10,000 ft snow and glacier level, from testing the oxygen isotopes.

A comprehensive study of glaciers on Mt. Shasta was conducted in 2002, examining the growth of the glaciers over the fifty-year period – from 1951 to 2002, to be exact. The results were incredible; two have almost doubled over that time, one increased by 50%, and two more glaciers by over 33%.

Whitney Glacier, located on the northwest side of Mt. Shasta, is one of the aforementioned expanding glaciers. It is two miles long and 126 feet deep, making it the longest, single existing valley glacier in the state of California.