The validity and accuracy of sustainability claims can be difficult to assess, leaving consumers confused or, worse, misled.

Boxed Water Is Better, which sells water in cartons instead of plastic or metal bottles, recently discovered this truth through a decision made by the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) National Advertising Division (NAD). The non-profit organization has recommended that Boxed Water Is Better modify or discontinue some of its marketing sustainability claims.

The first brand to box water, Boxed Water Is Better, launched in 2009 and presented consumers with a pretty nifty alternative to water packaged in plastic bottles. When they landed in retail, consumers were smitten concerning their messaging on sustainability, and, according to a lifecycle study they conducted, they saw that cartons have less impact on the environment than plastic bottles and aluminum.