How Jaden Smith is saving the world one plastic bottle at a time
Jaden Smith was just a kid when he discovered the impact that humans were having on the environment, at just the age of 11 he knew that we had to do more. This ignited his passion which inspired him to look further, “I really started to just study more and do more of a deep dive [into our environmental impact]...I really just got so inspired to really make a change.”
10 years on, the singer, style icon and eco-entrepreneur is bringing packaged water to Australian shores. JUST Water contains locally sourced Australian spring water and is packaged in a fully recyclable Tetra Pak carton. The paper-based carton is the first of its kind and is made from 82% renewable resources – paper certified by Forest Stewardship Counsel wood sources and the cap and shoulder is made of plant-based materials.
In true Smith style, the water’s packaging is minimal, eye-catching and chic. Specifically formulated with a wide mouth on the bottle, “so that people would use their JUST Water bottle as a container” Smith explained.
The bottom part of it is made from paper, the blue part, and the top cap is made out of plant-based plastic made from sugar cane in Brazil. The bottle is also a 72% reduction in greenhouse gases that deplete CO2 than any of our petroleum-based competitors.
Plus the team consciously “made a wide mouth on the bottle so that people would use [their] JUST Water bottle as a container.”
“We need to evolve the world to a place where you don't have to live minimally to be environmentally conscious and to do better for the world.
“[What] we're really selling is this innovative container that's different than all of the other types on the market.” The bottle will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 72% in comparison to any of their petroleum-based competitors.
Aside from quitting single-use plastics, we asked Jaden what his top tips were for people looking to go green:
Start thrifting: “The first thing is to buy old clothes. Don't always feel the need to buy new clothes, thrifted clothing is really in right now, so I feel like we need to use that to our advantage.”
Refuse or reuse: opt for a multi-use water bottle or paper alternative so you’re “not walking around with a fully petroleum based bottle of water all the time.”
We asked him if Australians could do to one thing to help the environment what it would it be, and his response was “I would ask all 25 million people to just pick up one thing off the ground. like one piece of trash that could go to the ocean. That would be insane.”
Available in three flavours you can now get JUST from just about any 7 Eleven and Woolworths store around Australia.