The Story of the Otiem Copper Water Bottle

 

We’re proud that we’ve created a high quality 1 litre water bottle made of high quality  premium copper. One that's perfect for the on the go lifestyle of our modern world, but still honors ancient Ayurvedic traditions. But how did we pull this off? And why did we do it in the first place?

Years ago, one of our founders was camping, practicing Yoga and rock climbing in Joshua Tree National Park over Thanksgiving weekend.

One night under the stars, the conversation turned to water — specifically, how hard it is to get good drinking water into the desert. There are no natural water sources nearby, so every drop has to be packed in, and more often than not that means armfuls of single-use plastic bottles bought from gas stations and grocery stores outside the park.

And if we were honest with ourselves, the problem didn't end at the park boundary — back home, too, staying hydrated on an active schedule meant buying and tossing far more plastic than we wanted to admit.

Since we try to be as eco conscious as we can, we’re not gonna continuously buy wasteful individual plastic water bottles for our adventuring, so we we’re forced to buy whatever water we can get close by, regardless of the quality.

It bothered us. For the sake of convenience, we were settling for water in wasteful packaging, and drinking less of it than we should have been. As athletes and people who are always on the go, we wished there were a better way.

That's when we had an idea: what if the vessel itself could make drinking water feel special — something beautiful, durable, and portable enough to take anywhere in the world?

That question led us to the ancient Indian practice of storing water in copper vessels, to the Ayurvedic tradition and craftsmanship built around them — and eventually, to the creation of the Otiem Copper Water Bottle.

After our design team had nailed the concept for the perfect bottle, it was time to actually manufacture them, and we knew if we were gonna do this, we had to do it right. We needed to go to the masters, so we went over 8000 miles to find them! That’s why Otiem partnered with skilled artisans in India to create each and every bottle by hand, in proper ayurvedic tradition, the way they’ve been doing it for hundreds of years.

Each bottle is handcrafted, polished, then individually inspected by one of our team members to make sure it lives up to Otiem’s high standard of quality, before it is even put on our shelves.

Since our bottles are fulfilled and shipped to you exclusively from our warehouses in the USA, and to honor the California desert that started it all, we proudly put an American Flag on all of our packaging. Even though these days our founders are more like nomads who’ve lived all over the globe, it’s our small thank you to the country where this idea was born, and a reminder to us that in our own small way, we’re able to help contribute to the employment of the hardworking people all over the country who process orders, box, ship and deliver our bottles to you every single day.

Our companies have proudly sold products in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Canada and even to active US military service members stationed in Guam.

We believe the Otiem bottle is the perfect blend of our North American active, healthy and eco conscious lifestyle, while still honoring and supporting the Indian people who perfected the ancient techniques that helped Ayurveda and Otiem come to life, and allow us bring our bottles to you, all over the globe.

Over the years as we grew to become more than just a copper water bottle company we realized that sustainable fashion is the future! That's why we wanted to steps to make sure we're part of that movement.

All our clothing is printed with the direct-to-garment printing method. The printing tech we use is made with sustainability in mind, and our printers use almost zero wastewater and less energy, lowering our carbon footprint.

The inks we use for printing are water-based and free of harmful chemicals. We take care to dispose of any left-over ink according to the ink supplier guidelines, so we’re not harming the environment.

What’s more, these printers use water-based vegan inks that they formulate, test, and produce in their own ink factories, maintaining the highest quality levels. The inks are non-hazardous, toxin-free, biodegradable, and contain no animal by-products.

With 92 million tons of textile going to waste in the fashion industry each year, a business model like this is a game-changer.

With Otiem you can feel good, about looking good.

From the mountains of Canada to the desert of the USA, to the gyms of New York to the Yoga classes of Austin, to wherever you are in the globe. We hope you’re enjoying your Otiem product, and we thank you for supporting our dream, your body’s health, and the planet by supporting us.

Yours truly,
Otiem Co-Founders