What if there was a way to improve your physical, emotional and spiritual health, help save the planet, contribute to nonprofits, and encourage the growth of manufacturing jobs in the US, all at the same time?
What if it was as easy as taking a drink of water out of a Love Bottle?
The brainchild of Minna Yoo, Love Bottle was founded on the belief that water is central to wellness.
When Minna was working as a nutritionist in San Francisco in 2007, she had started putting small pieces of masking tape on the glass jars she was drinking out of and writing the word "love" on them.
Gradually, more words like sing, play and fun were transformed into masking-tape-Sharpie stickers and placed with care on her water bottles. Then, one day, it came to her in a flash. In an instant she saw the whole company and knew exactly what she needed to do.
Over the course of the following year, Minna refined her business plan, established supply chain logistics, and solidified the values that would define the culture of Love Bottle—a commitment to health, positivity, and environmental sustainability. The company grew over the next three years, Minna had her first child and brought her sister in to help out. Then, in 2011, Minna, her family, and the company decided to move from San Francisco to Portland.
Minna originally wanted to manufacture the bottles in the US, but wasn't able to find anyone that could make less than 2-3 million at a time—far more than the 10,000 that she needed. But, as time passed and the company grew, the contradiction between the values and actions of the company started to weigh heavy on Minna's mind.
At this point, serendipity stepped in and the universe aligned in favor of Minna's vision for Love Bottle. Through a series of chance encounters, Minna was able to find a glass manufacturer in the US that was excited to make the bottles for her. The only problem was that they still couldn't make less than a quarter million units at a time. It was just too expensive to shut down all the equipment and swap out the molds for less. Not being the type to give in easily, Minna got to work.
With funding secured and a successful Kickstarter campaign, the next evolution of Love Bottle was poised to launch. Still, there were a lot of people that didn't understand what Minna was doing.
But Minna knew that in order for Love Bottle to be a company that she could be proud of, it was of the utmost importance for there to be a more direct connection between how the bottles were made and the message that they stood for. She had to make sure that love was going into the product, from its birth all the way to the customer's lips. With the glass manufacturer locked in, she scoured the US looking for the right people to make the ceramic, silicon and wire components of her product.
In October of 2015, with the manufacturers set to go, Love Bottle was relaunched as a 100% US made product—complete with the raised heart on the chest of the bottle and the "U R Love" message on the bottom that Minna had always wanted.
With this philosophy in mind, Love Bottle has consistently donated to a variety of organizations including: Clean Water Action, the Arbor Day Foundation, and Feeding America. Currently, they're working with Global Water to help get clean water to school children in Guatemala, and are looking into ways they can expand their impact to the conflict-torn regions of Syria and Jordan.
So, last summer, Love Bottle went through and passed the rigorous assessment process and officially entered the B-Corp community. With this new support network in place, Love Bottle is experiencing a revitalized sense of optimism—spurred by the knowledge that there are a growing number of businesses, like them, who are willing to do what it takes to make the world a better place.
Whether it's promoting wellness, supporting jobs, giving to those in need, or saving the environment, Love Bottle is striving to do all they can to improve the lives of those they touch—all through a simple glass bottle and a sip of water.
For more information visit www.lovebottle.com, like them on facebook and follow them on twitter and instagram.