AQUAMANTRA premium bottled water available at Albertsons California stores

DANA POINT, CA SEPTEMBER 9, 2009– AQUAMANTRA Premium Bottled Water based in Dana Point, CA is proud to announce that as of Labor Day Weekend, ALBERTSONS will be selling their award winning brand throughout their 262 California Stores, with the world’s 1st 100% Biodegradable, Recyclable, (non-PLA) Plastic Bottle. The 2 Skus being introduced are I AM GRATEFUL and I AM LOVED.



“We are thrilled that Albertsons is contributing to their customers by introducing AQUAMANTRA’s Premium Natural Spring Water in the first ever 100% Biodegradable and 100% Recyclable bottle. Our success in the Southwest Region of ALBERTSONS stores demonstrates the traction of our brand and now with our new “GREEN” bottle we are confident that California consumers will drink it up,” said Alexandra Teklak, President of AQUAMANTRA. “We are grateful that our niche water has the ability to cross into mass market and appeal to everyone, welcoming the ability to be loved with our I AM LOVED water and grateful with our I AM GRATEFUL water, two of our mantras that are our biggest sellers.”



People love the convenience of bottled water, but the category”s overwhelming success wreaked toxic havoc on the nation”s landfills, where the average water bottle will take more than 500 years to decompose. AQUAMANTRA’s ENSO bottles are FDA approved PET #1 bottles that are not PLA (made of cornstarch) or oxo-degradable (in need of UV rays to break down). If these bottles end up in microbial landfills, (as 80% do) the bottles can break down in as little as 10 months into inert biomass and biogas through either an anaerobic (no oxygen, no light) or aerobic decomposition. How does that happen? Currently, all PET bottles are organic in nature; however, the microbes don’t recognize them as food. Plastic appears to be the last thing they are looking to eat, which is why it takes 500 years or more to break down. ENSO Bottles use an organic additive that sits next to the PET chain and attracts microbial colonization. In short speak, they are adding an ‘organic seasoning’ to the bottle so the microbes know the bottle is food. Once the bottle hits a microbial environment, a swelling agent is activated which opens up the polymer chain, allowing microbes to get in and break down the bottle. What does that mean? The ENSO Bottle, will not break down on the shelf, a cooler or even in the heat, only when it’s placed in a microbial environment. Enso’s innovation is why these new plastic bottles are so amazing, they maintain the same properties as traditional PET and can be intermingled with standard PET in recycling streams and programs. “We 100% support recycling, the choice we made to convert to ENSO Bottles allows people the ease to keep recycling as normal, and in the end if the bottle does end up in the trash they can rest their heart’s easy, they are not contributing to the problem, only the solution,” says Teklak.



AQUAMANTRA’s natural spring water, flows from the abundant source of Mt. Palomar in Southern California and is proud to be a Gold Medal Winner for best tasting water at The Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting Competition. AQUAMANTRA includes a high percentage of silica, low Total Dissolved Solids, an even pH of 7.4 and surpasses EPA filtration and purification Standards of most tap and bottled water companies “How lucky are we?,” says Teklak, “That we get to be the first company to introduce delicious local water, with a message that inspires and supports a plastic-free landfill -we are now in alignment with our triple bottom line – people-planet-profit. How does it get any better than that?”