We are Polar Bottle

Company History

Robert Heiberger and Judy Amabile founded Product Architects, Inc. (Polar Bottle®) in 1994 from a garage in Boulder, Colorado. As avid cyclists and budding entrepreneurs, they wanted to develop a bottle unlike anything else on the market that would keep liquids cool during long rides. Robert, a mechanical engineer with experience working with heat loss in the field of medical technology design, adapted his expertise to create the insulated Polar Bottle water bottle. From there, he and Judy began making the reusable insulated water bottles by hand with plastics sourced from Denver, Colorado that they picked up themselves in a family mini van. At that time, Polar Bottle had one employee, Nechko Gazibara, who helped produce bottles while Judy and Robert traveled around Colorado selling the product to individual bike shops.

Today, Polar Bottle has grown to become a leader in the hydration market with bottles shipped around the world. However, we have remained true to our roots. After 20 years, Nechko is still with the company and Judy and Robert still play an active role in sales, marketing and product development. Most importantly, we remain committed to philanthropy and advocacy — particularly within the cycling community that helped us establish our roots back when we started in 1994.

Leadership

Judy Amabile is the President and Co-founder of Product Architects, Inc.

Robert Heiberger is the Vice-President and Co-founder of Product Architects, Inc., and the head of Engineering and Product Development.

PolarBottle_Old-News-Article_Robert_Judy

Boulder Daily Camera, March 1996
Judy and Robert in the Boulder Daily Camera, March 1996

Values

MADE IN USA:

At Polar Bottle, we take great pride in producing an American-made product that reduces our environmental impact and supports our local and national economies by providing employment to local workers. The vast majority of our products are assembled in, and shipped from, our warehouse in Boulder, Colorado with parts sourced from the USA.

LIFETIME GUARANTEE:

We take great pride in the quality of each and every Polar Bottle water bottle. Our products are designed to be used for years, and pass through many rigorous quality control checks before leaving our warehouse. However, we understand that life happens, which is why we offer retailers and consumers a lifetime guarantee on all products. This includes a replacement cap service, because consumers shouldn’t have to replace a perfectly good bottle just because they damaged the cap. Just give us a call or drop us an email and we will take care of it. Guaranteed.

MadeInUSA

COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY:

At Polar Bottle®, when it comes to sustainability, our product speaks for itself.

Experts estimate that approximately two million tons of single-use PET bottles (your standard bottled water or soda bottle) make their way to landfills every year. In the United States alone — where citizens consume close to 10 billion gallons of bottled water (more than 25 gallons per person) on average annually — roughly 50 billion single-use plastic bottles end up in landfills every year.

By producing a durable bottle that lasts for years and is ultimately recyclable, we hope to reverse this unfortunate legacy and encourage people to ditch bottled water in favor of reusable water bottles.

Along with providing a sustainability-driven product, our commitment to environmental conservation shines through in everything from bottle production and distribution, to our office policies, to the advocacy groups and non-profits we support.

Our bottles are Made in America from locally sourced parts, which allows us to minimize shipping costs and the environmental impact that goes along with them. The fact that our entire operation – from sales to production to shipping – takes place under one roof further reduces overhead, energy use and environmental strain.

Every year, we send out hundreds of free replacement caps to customers around the world, no questions asked. One of the reasons we offer this service is to reduce waste. We want our customers to reuse their bottles for years, rather than invest in a new bottle just because they lost the original cap.

Our employees are encouraged to use alternative transportation to get to our Boulder, Colorado office. We offer all full-time employees a free bus/train pass for our local public transportation system and everyone around the office has access to company bicycles available to rent for as long as they need.

Every year, we also donate thousands of dollars worth of product to conservation groups. And as corporate members of various cycling and outdoor industry advocacy groups, we support a powerful movement promoting sustainability by preserving natural recreation areas and helping establish policies that encourage citizens to protect the planet by using alternative transportation.