About Us

We are a group of individuals from all over the country who saw a need for change and came together via the Internet to figure out how to make our voices heard. Here are profiles of just a few of us:

Beth Terry, Oakland, CA.
beth [at] myplasticfreelife [dot] com

While Beth had been aware of environmental issues for many years, it wasn’t until the summer of 2007, after reading the article Our Oceans Are Turning Into Plastic... Are We? about the plastic garbage patch in the North Pacific Gyre, that she really began to take action. By day, she is an accountant for a Bay Area home care agency. By night, she blogs at myplasticfreelife.com about finding ways to reduce her plastic waste and plastic consumption and researches the issues surrounding plastics in the environment.

After cutting out bottled water waste, Beth became 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 the issue on her blog, and after analyzing the search terms people were using to find her blog, ("brita cartridge filter recycle usa," "brita cartridges recyclable, us," "brita filter recyclable us," "brita filter recycle us," "brita filter recycle usa," and many similar combinations) she realized there were thousands of other people who shared her frustration.

Beth put out a call to action, and the Take Back The Filter Campaign was born.

Seth Gale, Cambridge, MA.

Seth is a medical resident who is also interested in environmental protection, energy efficiency, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). He was drawn to this campaign because, like millions, he uses Brita filters for water purity and to reduce plastic bottle use.

When Seth realized that these filters are now sent to landfills, he wondered how there could be no system in place to re-use or recycle their parts. It seemed counter-productive to the initial goal of reducing overall landfill volume. He believes it is the responsibility of all producers to either develop a ‘net-energy negative’ recycling program internally or to contract and fund a program externally. Along with the Clorox Corporation, citizens and corporations all have to move toward shared environmental stewardship.

Nicole Aldurien, St. Louis, MO.

Too much of an idealist for her own good (or so she's been told at times), Nicole puts food on the table by working retail - specifically, she's the assistant textbook manager for a local university bookstore. As a kid, when her great-grandmother told stories of living through the Great Depression, Nicole thought her "G.G.'s" creative ideas for thrift were awesome and cool, while the rest of the family rolled their eyes. In retrospect, she realizes that those ideas were also pretty green, and hopes that corporations, especially Brita/Clorox, can be brought around to a similar "waste nothing" ethic. Nicole aspires toward intentional living, and to that end, she recently started making specific changes in her everyday life to reduce her environmental impact, and blogging about at them to hold herself accountable.

Tom Eddington, Mill Valley, CA.

Tom first gained an appreciation for nature and sustainability while growing up on a small family farm. He was introduced to the environmental movement by one of his college professors. His interest in this area was peaked last year when watching the video Our Synthetic Sea. Since seeing the video, he has made it a personal mission to remove as much plastic from our society as possible.

Having worked as a management consultant for the majority of his career, he understands the importance of helping organizations balance stakeholder interests.

Becky Glinka, Normal, IL.

Becky has always been somewhat environmentally conscientious but has really tried to step it up a little in the past year. She's become a vegetarian, began vermi-composting (yes, she has worms living in her basement), and started paying more attention to all of the choices she makes in her daily life. Becky wishes that more corporations in the United States would start taking back their products that have reached the end of their useful lives and thinks that Clorox/Brita has a head-start on this since their European counterpart is already doing it. "Let's hope we're able to make a difference!"

Cat Domiano, New York, NY.

Cat is inspired by the take-back programs available in other countries and hopes to encourage US corporations to take similar responsibility. Cat is an NYC resident and a theater professional who has always been more interested in finding creative ways to reuse rather than discard. As a quilter, she is constantly seeking new ways to use up small scraps of fabric. In an effort to reduce the number of chemicals in her life (and the environment) she has begun making her own household and personal care products (such as dental powder, hair rinse, floor cleaner, and lotion).


Luann Rudolph, Green Bay, WI.

Luann has a passion for saving the planet. She spends her days at work as a land use planner working with communities to make good decisions about development and conservation. She spends most of her spare time trying to make the City of Green Bay a more sustainable place to live. She is dedicated to educating the public on environmental issues and convincing them to change their behaviors. That is why she became interested in the "Take Back the Filter Campaign." She believes strongly that everyone must play their role in making this planet a healthy, happy place to live and that includes corporations like Clorox.

Margaret Kertess, Arlington, VA.
Program Manager, Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment.

Susan Babb, Haddon Heights, NJ.
Employment Attorney.

Juli Borst, New York, NY.
Classical Singer and Urban Treehugger.

Barb Scheifler, Berkeley, CA.
School librarian, retired.