The beginnings of our Made in USA water bottles
In 1994, engineer Robert Heiberger and Judy Amabile created the first insulated squeeze bottle on the market. They set up their operation in their home garage in Boulder, Colorado — traveling to Denver in their family minivan to collect materials from local vendors. Today, despite our company’s growth, we continue to manufacture Made in USA water bottles because of the positive environmental and economic impacts of American manufacturing. And most importantly, because we value paying our employees a living wage, and ensuring that our products are produced under safe and fair working conditions.
What a Made in USA company looks like:
Our entire operation functions in one location — our headquarters in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. We continue to work with a variety of local vendors. All of our plastic bottles, the Insulated Sport bottles and Ergo Hot & Cold bottles, are entirely Made in the USA with parts sourced from American manufacturers.
What does it mean to be “Made in the USA?”
The Federal Trade Corporation defines a product as “Made in the USA” if “all or virtually all” of the product comes from and is assembled in the country. According to the Consumer Reports National Research Center, 78% of Americans would rather purchase products Made in the USA. All of the materials used in our Made in USA bottles — from the inner and outer plastic bottles to the bottle’s foil liner — are sourced from American manufacturers. All of our products, are assembled and shipped from our Boulder, Colorado headquarters.
Our suppliers:
We are thankful to have such a strong community of suppliers in the state of Colorado. The majority of our packaging materials come from Aurora, Colorado and Denver, Colorado. The plastics for our Cenote Hydration Systems come from Denver, Colorado and Englewood, Colorado. The inner and outer bottles for our Sport and Ergo bottle, as well as the foil liner that sits between the two bottles, come from Denver, Colorado and Garden City, Missouri. The molds we use to create our products are manufactured by Front Range Tooling in Frederick, Colorado. Some of our other out of state suppliers come from Merced, California, Sanford, Florida, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Why are our Stainless Steel Water Bottles not made in the USA?
Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a feasible, price-stable stainless steel manufacturer in the United States. The stainless steel for our vacuum insulated stainless steel bottles is sourced from China. The caps, fitments and CarryLoops™ are still made in the United States, and the bottles are assembled and shipped from our warehouse in Boulder, Colorado.
Economic Benefits of Made in USA water bottles:
Manufacturing on home soil keeps Americans employed. These jobs expand the tax base, which in turn provides more funding towards important government programs, like social security. Taxes also go back to our government when transactions for manufacturing materials are made inside the country. Manufacturing products stateside, also helps reduce our trade deficit inside the country, which also helps strengthens the economy.
The U.S.A. is known for producing quality products both nationally and internationally, and for good reason. Our country holds higher safety and manufacturing standards, which are strictly tested by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Environmental Benefits of Made in USA water Bottles:
Polar Bottle’s mission is to create a healthier planet, and keeping manufacturing and production at home is a key component of this mission. By producing our bottles in Boulder, with parts sourced from other American manufacturers, we greatly reduce our long distance shipping, and the environmental strain that goes along with it.
The fact that out entire operation takes place under a single roof — from packaging and shipping to marketing and sales — also greatly reduces the environmental footprint of our products. Furthermore, keeping a small inventory, allows us to operate in a much smaller, more efficient building.
Thank you for supporting Made in USA products
By purchasing a Made In USA product, you are helping employ hard working Coloradans, as well as the employees of our American manufacturers. And most importantly, you can rest assured that your new water bottle was produced under fair working conditions, by hard working Americans who were paid a living wage.