More adventures in packaged coconut water...

We've seen this around for awhile, and while more expensive than an actual young coconut, it seemed pretty good:

• 100% coconut water
• No need to carry a big knife with you to open it.

The website seems legit, and talked about organic and sustainability, and the packaging was even listed as biodegradable, made out of compressed cassava!

No sugar in it (we checked the label), and easy to open -- you just pull a string on the top and put the straw in the hole.

We tried it, and decided it didn't taste that good.  So thumbs down on that.  But then I decided to tear apart the packaging to figure out how they were keeping the coconut water fresh, and from keeping the compressed cassava from getting soggy.

So after peeling the thin plastic off, the "biodegradable" packaging came apart and inside is a can.

With a string tied to the pull tab.

While you have to give them props for innovative and eye catching packaging, this is greenwashing at its finest.  While the can IS something you can recycle, the excess packaging fails the green test in two ways:

1. If you just peel off the plastic and toss it in the compost, it won't work, since it hides an aluminum can.
2. If you are concerned about sustainability, and being green (as they seem to want to be), you don't add excess and unnecessary packaging -- a fake "coconut" looking cover adds weight and space -- meaning you burn more fuel and can transport less product in the same space.  That's not only making your carbon footprint go up, it's bad business since it adds to your expense.

So, another failure to find decent pre-packaged coconut water in Thailand outside of an actual young coconut.  Lousy packaging, and it didn't even taste very good.

Still need to carry a big knife for coconut water on the go...