Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009

When is a bottle of water not a bottle of water? When it’s one of these. The Kor One is an oh-so-late-noughties invention, boasting sustainable design, impeccable eco credentials and a correspondingly high price tag. Yup, Gwyneth Paltrow’s a fan. It might look like it was pinched from the Starship Enterprise, but the Kor’s space-age trappings don’t come at the expense of practicality. The one-touch cap makes irritating screw-tops a thing of the past, while the bottle is made from BPA-free plastic (hey, ask Gwyneth if you don’t know what that means). Choose your color carefully, as each one benefits a different cause: green for watershed protection, blue for ocean protection, orange for container recycling, and purple for solving the world water crisis.

Kor One, ¥3,990. Available from http://korwater.jp