Water Filter Recycling

We all know as eco-friendly people that bottled water is bad for the environment, and our pocket book and as such many households have chosen to install Brita water faucet filters or water dispensers in an effort to be more sustainable in their choice of water to drink. However these are not without waste as the filters for these items need replacing and once replaced what to do with the old filter? Previously the only option was landfill trash. The filters are made of multiple components and almost all curbside recycling collectors wouldn’t accept them for recycling.

One eco-warrior in particular Beth Terry had been reducing her plastic consumption since 2007 and was frustrated to find that the plastic Brita cartridges she had been using to filter
her tap water were not recyclable in the United States. She wrote about her woes of the Brita Filter on her blog fakeplasticfish.com and a campaign commenced and along with a team of like minded individuals a website was born for Brita to become more eco-friendly and take back the filters!

In November 2008 the website announced that their campaign had been a success and that Brita and Preserve have teamed up to create a take-back recycling program for
Brita pitcher filter cartridges! Folks are now  able to drop off
filters at Whole Foods Markets or mail them in. Preserve, a
U.S. company manufacturing household products from recycled plastic,
will recycle 100% of the plastic casing. And the filter material will
be regenerated or converted to energy. If you have

The campaign is still not over though, how can you help?

• Write
  a letter to Clorox executives.Please write and thank them for
  helping us keep our pitcher filters out of landfills and ask if they
  have plans to recycle faucet filters.
• Contact your local Whole Foods Market and ask the store
  manager to join Preserve’s
  Gimme 5 program. Each individual store can decide whether or not
  to participate in collecting #5 plastics, including Brita filters, for
  recycling. If you’d like to be able to bring your filters back to Whole
  Foods rather than mailing them in, please speak to the manager at
  the store near you.
• Spread
  the word! Please do let others know that Brita pitcher filters
  will be recycled beginning in January and that they should not be thrown
  in the garbage.

Source: www.takebackthefilter.org

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