Back in 2010 I was introduced to Carlton Solle, an eco-friendly real estate developer and entrepreneur who was beginning work on Palazzo Park – a 40,000 sf greenroofed eco-luxury beachfront hotel and condominium resort with land preservation in Costa Rica.

Our Design Editor Haven Kiers and I highlighted this awesome project in our 2010 Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design in the #5 category: The Greening of Latin America.  Although it is currently on hold, we loved the graphics so much that we have used them for our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summits!  Thanks again, Carlton, for sharing them.

Kickstarter Campaign

After living over 10 years in Costa Rica, Carlton Solle recently moved back to San Francisco to pursue his vision for a wonderful-sounding product called Treeson Spring Water, “The eco-friendly, toxin-free, trash eliminating, clean energy making, tree planting, best tasting, purest natural spring water ever.”

They created a Kickstarter campaign recently which runs through March 15, 2014, and they need everyone’s assistance in getting the word out and contribting – no matter how small – to get to their goal and be able to start production.

Non-petroleum based, and in fact, plant-based, the bottles are compostable and biodegradable and will not only be removed from the plastic recycling stream, they will be returned in the mail using their own packaging – at no additional cost to you – to be used to make clean power that Treeson will then use to make more bottles for their pristine spring water!

The vision of a “cradle to cradle” product with a complete lifecycle:

“By offering a truly sustainable alternative to established brands at no additional expense, we might inspire the whole industry to move to fully sustainable practices.” ~ Carlton Solle

Watch their short video below:

The Quick Version

Treeson Spring Water was created to offer a sustainable alternative to the plastic water bottles that are sold by the billions every year only to end up in landfills. Our mission is to change the bottled water industry from the inside, to lead by example and inspire the established brands to move to sustainable solutions.

• Less than 30% of plastic bottles get recycled in the USA

• At Treeson, we take our bottles back when you’re done

• You mail the empties to us for free via any USPS mailbox

• We use the returned bottles to generate clean energy

• We plant a tree for every bottle we sell

• Our bottles are made with 100% plant-based non-gmo materials

• It’s clean, it’s green, we need you on our team! 

What about using refillable containers instead of packaged water?  Here’s what Carlton says:

“If you happen to live in an area with great drinking water, please continue using your canteen. More power to you! We are simply trying to create a more sustainable alternative to the plastic bottles that are already being sold by the billions.”

Visit the Treeson page on Kickstarter to read more about this potentially amazing project that, if funded, will make a huge positive impact on the environment and could even change an industry!

One super cool feature is that you will be able see a picture of the tree you helped plant along with its GPS coordinates and get even updates so you can watch it grow – all on your mobile phone.

~ Linda V.