Take Back the Filter Campaign Succeeds: Brita Will Recycle
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 11.16.08
This just in from the Take Back the Filter campaign:
Brita is going to announce a recycling program for its water filter cartridges on Tuesday.The brand manager from Brita contacted the Take Back The Filter campaign yesterday and gave us the word.
We can't reveal the details until Monday night. But I can say that their plan includes almost all of the things we asked for on our petition and during the campaign.
Brita has provoked strong reactions with ad campaigns that bash tap water quality and even comments like "so drinking bottled water is like giving my car a blow job?" with their campaign to get people off of bottled water and into filtering (the image which prompted the comment can be seen over the fold).
Neverthelss, no one disagrees that moving towards filtered water is a better solution than bottles for meeting the epicurean demands of the modern consumer. Once-a-month disposal of a filter cartridge beats hundreds of plastic bottles consuming petroleum resources and, for the most part, collecting agelessly in landfills after their brief useful life.
But the question of filter recycling remained a thorn in the side of people for whom only a truly sustainable solution can make a perfect cup of tea. The Take Bake the Filter Campaign has collected Brita filters in anticipation of winning this battle. The group will deliver their collection publicly in January to celebrate their success.
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Once a month? The filters for my roommate's Brita say to replace it every 2 months if a whole family is using it. Seeing as it's just her, there's much less water going through than if there was a whole family, so even once every 2 months would be excessive.
in the above article is written:
"Brita has provoked strong reactions with ad campaigns that bash tap water quality and even comments like "so drinking bottled water is like giving my car a blow job?" "
I've been turned off from time to time in the past with your writers trying to be 'edgy'. All of these kinds of comments are simply inappropriate and alienate many readers. Amazing that your main editor would let any of the writers publish this kind of language on an eco based website. A couple years ago Treehugger consistently came across as educational and very current. Now more and more it appears sensationalistic and reaching for some kind of wider audience who wants filler articles.
I can no longer recommend the site to my students. and for myself, I have less and less desire to visit the site. I used to be a daily visitor...lately it's down to twice a month...and now...probably once every 6 months.
please get back on track .... and have some class and professionalism in what you are publishing. what are you guys thinking?
The big question is, will collection be available globally, or just in the US?
There are actually two separate Brita companies. The original German company, which put out those ads that you have displayed, has already had a recycling program in place since 1992.
The North American portion of the Brita company was purchased by Clorox in 2000, and until now, they have not had a recycling program of any kind.
Take Back The Filter originated in the U.S. and targeted Clorox's North American Brita company. We don't have further info about recycling in countries outside North America. We hope that Canadians and Mexicans will be able to recycle their filters as well, but we don't know what the plan is for those North American countries.
Also, we don't have any info at this time about recycling Brita faucet, refrigerator, Braun, or any other types of Brita filters. The program that will be announced on Tuesday only covers pitcher filters.
Beth Terry
Take Back The Filter
http://www.takebackthefilter.org
We have had recycling from Brita for at least a couple of years here in the UK (I don't know how much longer - that's just the length of time I've had a Brita water filter). You just put the cartridges in an envelope, write a Freepost address on the outside, and drop it into the post box. Job done.
In France, there is a recycling system for Brita filters. We just take them back to the nearest vendor.
I have been cutting my filters open, composting the carbon, and putting the plastic in the recycle bin.
@Cash -- many people think that everything they put in their recycle bins actually gets recycled. That is not the case. Putting a cut-open Brita filter into your recycle bin is just another way of sending it to the landfill. That is the reason we started the campaign -- because until now there has not been any way to recycle a Brita filter in North America.