Companies around the world have been taking a number of steps to counteract the wastefulness and environmental impacts of bottled water, trimming materials from bottle caps and labels, and redesigning bottle shapes to minimize plastic use.

Coca-Cola Japan has introduced a new idea with its I LOHAS mineral water: A 520ml bottle that is 12 grams, 40 percent lighter than comparable water bottles, and can be easily twisted and crushed when emptied.

While the water calls itself LOHAS, it's doubtful anyone in the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) demographic would drink this, or any, bottled water, despite the benefits the bottle has over other bottles.

A lighter-weight bottle means lighter delivery loads, and by taking up less space when disposed of, it can lead to recycling shipments that have less wasted air in them. But the benefits are somewhat up in the air and depend on a range of other variables, like delivery sizes, schedules, recycling and waste pickup schedules and how widespread the bottle is adopted and used.

Although its good to see companies making innovations that could have a sizable impact on waste disposal emissions (more tightly-packed recycling shipments could lead to fewer shipments and fewer emissions), applying those ideas to bottled water - even mineral water - won't make many people view bottled water as suddenly greener, and could hinder further adoption of such ideas.

^{Via CScout Japan}