7/11/08 Campaign Update: 6,700 signatures, 157 Filters. Keep 'em coming!

The Take Back The Filter campaign continues, as we collect not only signatures and filters but also support from organizations and notice from the press.

In an article on Cnet News.com ("Clorox on Brita cartridge recycling: Not so easy" June 24, 2008), Clorox representative Drew McGowan tells reporter Hanna Sistek, "Our filters are made with carbon. Any impurities that can be found in water will stick to the carbon, which becomes nonusable, which is why it has to be changed.... At this time, there is no way to recycle the carbon."

Yet the original Brita company in Europe does just that. In Brita's own facility, the filters are dismantled, the carbon is cleaned and reused in water treatment facilities, the ion exchange resin is cleaned and used in new Brita filters, and the plastic is ground up and used in new plastic items. All parts of the filters are recycled. To date, Clorox has not provided an explanation for why it can't do what its European counterpart has already been doing since 1992.

The latest organization to endorse the campaign, the California Product Stewardship Council, has written a letter to Clorox asking that question. Read CPSC's letter to Clorox here.

What will it take to let Clorox know that consumers are serious about recycling? We'd love to present them with a minimum of 10,000 signatures and 1,000 filters, including filters from every U.S. state and Canadian province. We're getting there, but it's going to take all of us spreading the word to everyone we know.

Do you have ideas for us? Leave a comment or email beth@myplasticfreelife.com.

Additional bloggers and news sites that have written about the campaign since the last update include:

Bugs and Brooms
East Bay Express article, June 18, 2008
Citizen Green
Green Grown and Sexy
Improvilaw
Northern California Recycling Association online newsletter, July 2008
Personal Issues
Rockridge Residents.org
Sustainlane Online Newsletter, June 2008 Edition 59
Sustainlane Take Back The Filter review

Sites that have added a link or our campaign badge:

Gray Matters
Lacey - Journalism Blog
Traveling Em