Friday, January 30, Beth Terry delivered 561 Brita pitcher filters plus 50 Brita faucet/refrigerator filters to Brita representatives at Whole Foods Market in Oakland, CA for recycling.
The 561 pitcher filters will be included as part of Preserve's Gimme5 program, which will also collect other types of #5 plastic (such as yogurt tubs, prescription bottles, and all Preserve products).
The 50 non-pitcher filters were handed separately to Brita's Drew McGowan, who has promised to include them in ongoing recycling research since faucet filters are made from a different kind of plastic from pitcher filters.
In attendance at Friday's event, along with Terry and McGowan, were Martina Wang from Brita as well as Adesina Stewart and Liz Bootz from Whole Foods Market.
2) Write or call Clorox (Brita). Thank them for finding a way to recycle pitcher filters, and let them know we want them to go even further. First, we want to encourage Brita to find a way to recycle faucet filters. And second, we'd like all its filters to be designed to be either refilled or the plastic recycled into new filters.
It's great that Preserve has stepped in to help recycle these filters into new products like toothbrushes and cutting boards. Still, virgin plastic must be used to create new filters. If Brita can come up with a way to create new filters from old ones, the recycling loop will truly be closed. We hope Brita will continue their research into further methods of recycling.
01/29/2008: Thanks to you, we've collected a total of 611 filters that we'll happily hand over to Brita tomorrow morning to be recycled as part of Preserve's Gimme5 program. The handover will take place at 8:00AM PST at Whole Foods Market in Oakland, CA (the new Lake Merritt location.) Local press have been invited to come and witness the event.
Wonder what 611 Brita filters look like? Here's a photo taken back when we had only 581!
Brita has kindly arranged this event for us and are enthusiastic about accepting the filters to kick off the recycling program. Are you interested in witnessing the filter transfer and perhaps taking a few photos? Here is the text of Brita's media alert:
*ATTN: EVENT MEDIA ALERT* RECYCLING TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: Brita collects more than 600 filters at Oakland’s Whole Foods Market
WHAT: Earlier this year, Brita teamed up with Preserve, a leading maker of 100 percent recycled household consumer goods, to collect and recycle Brita pitcher filters for the first time ever. Consumers have been asked to drop off used Brita filters at participating Whole Foods Markets, which collect and ship the filters on behalf of Preserve. This program allows Brita consumers to make another positive impact by recycling Brita pitcher filters and thus reducing dependence on bottled water.
Friday, January 30, 2009, Beth Terry, local Bay Area recycling advocate who supports the reduction of plastic waste and plastic recycling, will hand over more than 600 filters collected prior to the program’s launch to Brita and Whole Foods as part of the Preserve Gimme 5 program to collect No. 5 polypropylene plastics. These filters will be among the first of their kind to be recycled into Preserve household products such as toothbrushes, cups and cutting boards.
WHERE: Photo opportunity to take place at local Whole Foods Market in Oakland, Calif. 230 Bay Place Oakland, Calif. 94612
WHEN: Friday, January 30, 2009 at 8 a.m. PT
WHO: Brita Senior Group Manager, Drew McGowan, who manages the FilterForGood campaign and Martina Wang, who facilitated the recycling program will receive the filters on behalf of Brita. Joining Drew and Martina are Whole Foods representatives, Adesina Stewart and Liz Bootz and Beth Terry, local Bay Area recycling advocate.
Visit brita.com for more details on the recycling program.
For my part, I'll just be happy to move these boxes of filters out from under my dining room table!
12/09/08: As we announced in our 11/18/08 update, Whole Foods Markets will be collecting used Brita filters for recycling as part of Preserve's Gimme 5 program beginning in January. However, we have recently learned that each individual Whole Foods Market manager can decide whether or not to participate in the program.
If you would like to be able to return your used Brita filters, as well as all other #5 plastics, to your local Whole Foods, please contact the store near you and let the manager know.
Contact info for all stores in the U.S. and Canada can be found here:
As promised, here are the details of the take-back recycling program that Brita has developed. Read their full press release here.
1) Collection: Beginning in early January, Brita users will be able to drop off used filters at Whole Foods Markets or mail them to an address which will be provided closer to the start date. [From personal experience, I would recommend NOT sealing them up in Ziploc bags. This just ends up creating a lot of soggy, wet, not-so-nice smelling filters.]
2) Preserve Products, the company that makes recycled toothbrushes, razors, and other household products, will recycle 100% of each plastic filter casing collected into other household products.
3) The filter ingredients, activated carbon and ion-exchange resin, will be regenerated for alternative use or converted into energy.
The Take Back The Filter campaign is very pleased with this solution. Of course, we would always prefer to see the filters redesigned to be reused/refilled. But we understand that that might not be practical. And partnering with Preserve is a great alternative.
When Brita first contacted us back in April, they told us they were leaning on Waste Management to figure out how to recycle the filters. Waste Management is in the collection business. They collect plastic for recycling and sell it off, normally shipping it away to cities in Asia. We wanted the Brita filters to stay here at home where we need green jobs to bolster our economy.
Recycline makes nearly all of our products in the United States, working with U.S. manufacturers. This practice benefits our local economy and also reduces the CO2 emissions that would be generated by transportation of products to the United States from other countries. Sometimes we need to extend just beyond the border to guarantee quality and environmentally responsible manufacturing, so the blades for our Preserve razors are produced in Mexico.
Thank you to everyone who got involved in this campaign, sent us your used filters, signed the petition, sent letters to Clorox, forwarded emails, wrote blog posts, and helped in ways we may never know. Brita might have started recycling their filters eventually without our help, but letting them know how important this issue was to so many people certainly ensured that it remained on their radar and that they sought the most responsible method possible.
A huge thanks also to the Sierra Club! Sierra Club, as you may or may not know, already had a relationship with Clorox in helping them to develop their Green Works line of natural cleaning products. So it was natural for our campaign to partner with them to help Brita find the best way to recycle the filters.
What's next?
This site will remain up. If you haven't signed up for updates, please do so. We will let you know further details about Brita recycling. And in the coming days, we will add info on how we can encourage other water filter companies (like Pur) to follow suit.
In January, we will deliver our over 500 collected filters to Brita publicly so that all of you who sent them in can see your filters handled responsibly! And for those who still have filters to send, please hold onto them until January. We will be shutting down our mailbox in a few days.
In the mean time, please send a thank you letter to Brita for the hard work they have done putting this program in place. Clorox is showing itself to be an environmental leader, which might seem unusual for such a large corporation. We'd like them to feel that going green is truly worth it, and to perhaps look at their other product lines and figure out ways to make them more sustainable as well. (I have a few ideas!)
Here's the info for writing to Clorox:
Mailing Addresses:
Mr. Don Knauss, Chairman & CEO
Mr. Drew McGowan
The Clorox Company
1221 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94612
The Take Back The Filter campaign received a call from Brita brand manager Drew McGowan yesterday alerting us that Brita will indeed begin taking back and recycling pitcher filters beginning in January!
Full details on the plan will be released on Tuesday. Please visit the Take Back The Filter site Tuesday to learn where you'll be able to take your filters to be recycled as well as how they will be recycled.
We have no information at this time about recycling of faucet or other types of Brita filters. Please stay tuned...
Well, it's been over a month since I posted an update, and we've gotten more signatures, more filters, more endorsements, and more press. So, here are the current numbers:
Signatures: 16,003 Filters: 478 from 36 states & DC.
We'd love some filters from Delaware, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, & Wyoming.
National Press:The New York Times included a short piece on the Take Back The Filter Campaign in its Business Section on Monday, October 6: Pressure Is on to Recycle Water Filters, by Mya Frazier. Check it out. Brita's comment is a bit confusing. On the one hand, they say nationwide recycling would be too expensive for any one company to take on. But on the other hand, they tell us that they may begin a test program next year.
Let's hope the test program goes forward and is supported by consumers! We'd love for the filters you've sent us to be included in that first batch. In the meantime, please continue to send letters to Brita urging them to recycle responsibly. Please stress that we want green recycling jobs created here at home, rather than outsourced to Asia.
Write:
Mr. Don Knauss, Chairman & CEO The Clorox Company 1221 Broadway Oakland, CA 94612
Endorsement: We're thrilled to receive the endorsement of Food and Water Watch, which has agreed to help collect filters at the Washington DC Green Festival. Please bring used filters to the Food & Water Watch booth. Here are the logistics:
Washington D.C. Convention Center 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW Washington, DC 20001
Food & Water Watch's Executive Director, Wenonah Hauter, had this to say about the campaign:
Food and Water Watch’s Take Back the Tap campaign advocates for clean, affordable public water for all. We urge consumers to drink tap water rather than bottled water and to support federal funding for public water systems. Choosing home tap water filtration rather than drinking bottled water saves consumers money while reducing waste and greenhouse emissions produced in the production and transportation of bottled water. Drinking tap water also keeps national water resources in local hands, supporting public water systems.
We support Take Back the Filter’s campaign pressuring Clorox to recycle filters responsibly. Drinking filtered tap water should not compromise a consumer’s concern for water quality over his/her concern to reduce plastic litter clogging our nation’s landfills.
I've been asked by several people whether it's better to buy bottled water since the bottles are recyclable while the Brita filters are not. My response: PLEASE STOP BUYING BOTTLED WATER! There is more plastic in 300 water bottles than in one Brita filter. And the environmental impact of bottling and shipping water long distances is huge. We are not advocating bottled water. We simply want a solution that is as green as it can be. And since Brita in Europe has found a way to recycle the filters, we think that Clorox in the U.S. ought to be able to do the same.
Here are all the other web sites and blogs that have either mentioned the campaign or added our badge since the last update:
Let us know if we've missed anyone. If you have a web site or blog, please write about the campaign. We'll mention you in the next news update and link to you on our Blogroll page!
I can't wait for you to see the new video that was created in support of the campaign. But first...
The Numbers: As I write this, we've collected 14,866 petition signatures and 348 used filters. What will it take to get to 1,000 filters? How about filters from every state? We're still missing: Delaware, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming. Is your state listed? Send us your used filters!
Update from Clorox: After reading Clorox's 7/18/08 letter (PDF), one of our supporters sent his own letter to Clorox and received an even more positive reply. Written by Clorox CEO Don Knauss, the new letter contains the hand-written note: We do have one option that looks like it may work within the next 6-12 months. Thanks again for your interest. (View a PDF copy of the CEO's letter here.)
The Take Back The Filter campaign is not anti-Clorox or anti-Brita. We are happy that Clorox wants to do the right thing, and we want to help them get there. We also want to commend Clorox for their "Drink Responsibly" campaign to urge consumers to give up bottled water and make the switch to reusable water bottles. This action could help save billions of water bottles from the landfill each year, as well as save the energy costs of bottling and shipping water from one area to another.
Have you seen Brita's "Responsible Water" commercials? If not, you can view all of them here. That said, we are not missing the irony that while using a Brita might save plastic bottles from the landfill, the cartridges themselves remain unrecyclable.
Viral Video:Studio Freshh Audio Video has created a beautiful "subvertisement" based on Brita's own "Drink Responsibly" ads to urge Clorox to recycle its filters "responsibly." The video is up on YouTube as well as a higher res version on the Studio Freshh web site. After viewing on YouTube, please rate it, email it, stumble, digg, or embed it on your own web sites. We want to see this video spread across the Internet!
If you are reading this update in an email, you'll need to click the above links to view the video. Otherwise, you can watch the embedded version here:
The keyword here is "responsibly." We still don't know what Clorox has in mind regarding recycling the filters. Much of our plastic recycling these days is shipped to countries in Asia, where worker safeguards do not exist and whole towns are exposed to toxic fumes from plastic recycling. This Sky News video shows the sad truth about what happens to much of the unwanted plastic that westerners drop in their recycle bins.
If you haven't yet written a letter to Clorox, please do it now. Thank them for the work they are doing to create a greener world and ask how they plan to recycle the filters. Let them know we'd like the filters recycled domestically, as they are in Europe. This will not only prevent the kind of atrocities that we see happening in Asia, but will also create green jobs for us here at home at a time when new jobs are desperately needed. Write to:
Mr. Don Knauss, Chairman & CEO
The Clorox Company
1221 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94612
NY Freecycle Event: Take Back The Filter held its first collection event in NY City last weekend. According to campaign organizer, Juli:
It was just a box at the Freecycle Freemeet in Brooklyn. We distributed some mini flyers and collected six filters. That isn't much, BUT-- raising awareness is the more important point. Once people see that 'someone' is out there making an effort to get filters recycled, it generally clicks with them. It just makes sense. Once you decide to use a filter and move away from plastic water bottles, you really hate throwing those hunks of plastic filter in the trash, and it infuriates you to know that Brita EU recycles while Brita US does not.
Are you doing anything to organize filter collection in your area? Let us know. We'll write about it in our next update. And don't forget, we have a Yahoo Group set up for connecting with others to collect filters.
Here are the web sites that have either mentioned the campaign or added our badge since the last update:
Let us know if we've missed anyone. If you have a web site or blog, please write about the campaign. We'll mention you in the next news update and link to you on our Blogroll page!
If you haven't read the Gristmill article, please visit the site and weigh in on the poll asking whether you think filter recycling is worthwhile!
Since these two articles came out, we've nearly doubled our petition signatures. Now, we need to focus on reaching our goal of 1,000 used Brita filters. Many new campaign supporters may have signed the petition without realizing that there are several other ways to help out: letter writing, sending us used filters, and spreading the word. Please browse the full web site, which is chock full of ideas: www.takebackthefilter.org.
If you're in the New York City area, you can bring your used filters to Freecycle™ New York City's Back-to-School FreeMeet! (it's not just for students!)
Saturday, September 13, 2008 11am - 4pm Behind the Old Stone House (5th Ave b/t Third and Fourth Streets) Park Slope, Brooklyn
Just drop Brita filters in the designated box at the FreeMeet and they will be sent to the Take Back the Filter campaign in Oakland.
Wondering about the theory behind the Take Back The Filter Campaign? Seth Gale, one of the campaign's original organizers, has written up a comprehensive article on Extended Producer Responsibility, the concept that producers should be accountable for the entire life cycle of products and packaging they introduce on the market. Europe has been following this model for 15 years. It's time the U.S. caught up!
As always, we want to thank the folks who have have promoted the campaign on their blogs and web sites. Since the last update, we've been mentioned on:
Here's a bit of positive news in the Brita recycling campaign. Today, one of our supporters shared with me a letter from Clorox CEO Don Knauss she received in response to her letter to the company. In the past, those of us who wrote letters to Clorox executives asking for Brita recycling received impersonal form letters from Brita employees other than those addressed in our original letters. (See Letter #1 and Letter #2.)
But recently, consumer Sharon Rogers received a response signed by the CEO himself with a personal handwritten comment at the bottom. Here's the full text of the letter. View the PDF version to see the handwritten signature and comment.
Dear Ms. Rogers,
Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding Brita. We truly value your loyalty to one of our brands. We appreciate hearing from consumers, and I would like to assure you that we share your concerns about the recyclability of Brita filters in the U.S.
It's true that Brita filters are recyclable in other countries, because they have recycling programs for such materials. As of now, the United States city waste management systems are not equipped to collect Brita filters for recycling purposes.
We understand that's not ideal, and we are working with waste management to explore other options, as we are dedicated to sustainability efforts and ensuring customers are happy with our products.
Again, we appreciate your business and your feedback.
Sincerely,
Don Knauss
[Handwritten Note: We are focussed on this issue!]
This is great news, and we appreciate that Clorox/Brita are listening to their customers and intend to make Brita recycling a reality.
If you haven't yet sent a letter, now's the time!
Please write to Clorox CEO Don Knauss and let him know that you are glad the company is working on the issue of Brita recycling and that you'd like to know when we can expect a program to be in place.
Don Knauss, CEO The Clorox Company 1221 Broadway Oakland, CA 94612
It's great that they have the intention, and we must continue to urge them to keep the issue on the front burner. Until Clorox is ready to make an official announcement about Brita recycling, we will continue to gather signatures, send letters, and spread the word.
And please continue to send us your filters! Wouldn't it be great if we could deliver them to Clorox at the time that the recycling program is finally announced? Let's all be part of the solution!
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.
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.
To date, the Take Back The Filter campaign has collected over 6,100 petition signatures. We've also received 94 filters from 19 U.S. states and D.C. Is your state listed on the sidebar?
Apparently, Clorox is listening. An article in the online magazine Grist this week reported that when questioned about Brita recycling during the recent Sustainable Brands conference, a Clorox rep replied, "We're working on it." However, Clorox has not provided any concrete information to us since our first contact with them back in April. We think they still need a lot more convincing.
So we continue to work on finding creative avenues for getting the word out and expect a couple of print articles this week.
We've also gained support from the business sector, with endorsements from eCycle Group in Southern California, a company that understands take-back recycling programs, and Sacramento-based Synchrosina Creative Services, an organization that appreciates thoughtful product design. Both companies wrote about the campaign on their company blogs. And Synchrosina sent a letter to Clorox on company letterhead. (Read Synchrosina's letter here.)
Do you have a business that appreciates the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility? Please send a letter to Clorox on company letterhead and then forward it to us. We'll post it here. And if you've got practical recycling ideas for Clorox, be sure and let us (and them) know that too.
Here is our update of the latest blogs and web sites that have promoted the campaign this week or added the badge to their site:
Many, many thanks to Co-op America for endorsing the campaign last week and posting an announcement in their online newsletter. This kind of support from national organizations really, really helps to spread the word.
But, as you know, there are many more Brita users who don't subscribe to online newsletters and who may not belong to environmental organizations. Still, they want a way to recycle their filters. Every day we receive petition signatures from folks who just happened upon the site by Googling "recycle Brita filter." Imagine how many more people wonder how to recycle them but don't think to check online. That's why we need your help to spread the word.
Do you belong to a church, community group, PTA, mother's group, or another type of mailing list? Please consider posting an announcement in the group's newsletter or bulletin, whether online or in print. Already, we have people coming to the site from miscellaneous online forums, blogs, local newsletters, church announcements, and just today a local mother's group. That's great and we need to keep it going.
We'd love you to be our MySpace friend or join our FaceBook group. And please let others know about the campaign through those social networking venues.
What other ideas do you have? Please leave a comment here with any suggestions for us. We want to hear any and all of them!
We realize that collecting Brita filters individually through the mail is inefficient and uses much more fuel than if filters could be collected locally and mailed in bulk to us. So we've set up a new Yahoo! Group so that supporters can meet others in their local area and arrange for collection/pick up.
This is your group to use. Think of it in the way you might use Freecycle or Craigslist. Use ordinary caution when dealing with people you don't know. It's up to you all to decide how to handle postage costs or other issues. But we just wanted to provide this forum to make it easier to connect.
Thus far, we've received 81 filters and created a new tally on the sidebar of the Take Back the Filter web site for those who are interested in keeping track. Please check the list. Is your state listed yet? We'd love to collect filters from consumers in every U.S. state and Canadian province.
To date, we've collected over 5,000 signatures and 53 used filters from consumers in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, DC. Is your state missing? Can you help us collect filters from every U.S. state and Canadian province? Please send them our way!
We also want to thank all the bloggers and organizations that have written about the campaign on their sites. The latest additions include:
We don't have any further information from Clorox, but we know that our efforts are making a difference, so please continue to help us spread the word!
Last week, the Sierra Club, SF Bay Chapter sent a letter to Clorox asking the company to develop a take-back re-use/recycling program for BRITA cartridges. This letter will be posted on the National web site and other chapters encouraged to write their own letters. See the original PDF copy of the letter here. Or read the text below.
Are you a member of an organization that might support the Take Back The Filter campaign? Please e-mail beth@myplasticfreelife.com and let us know!
May 17, 2008
Dan Gagen, BRITA Brand Manager
The Clorox Company
1221 Broadway
Oakland, California 94612
May 13, 2008
Dear Mr. Gagen:
Sierra Club, San Francisco Bay Chapter was recently approached by the "Take Back the Filter" campaign in Oakland to join in asking you to implement a program for collecting, recycling and reusing Brita water filters, which are a component of a product line you own. The Sierra Club believes that increased recycling and the adoption of "Extended Producer Responsibility" (EPR) are key components of reducing waste from the production cycle. By recycling and reusing products like the Brita water filter, the Clorox Company can keep tons of usable material from being needlessly discarded and thrown in land fills. Therefore, we join the "Take Back the Filter" campaign in asking you to:
1) Redesign the Brita filter cartridges so that the plastic housing can be refilled rather than discarded each time the filter is changed. After reviewing your product, it appears to the Sierra Club that redesigning the filter to allow the plastic housing to be reused rather than discarded, is possible without extensive redesign.
2) Provide a take-back program so that used cartridges can be returned to the company for recycling. The system that we favor would involve setting up collection stations at the retail stores selling Brita products (such as exists in Europe). An alternative to this might be a system whereby you provide customers with a pre-paid postage envelope in which they can send their used filter back to you. Hewlett-Packard currently does this with their toner cartridges.
3) Create a system for the cartridges to be dismantled and recycled/reused domestically rather than land filled, incinerated, or shipped overseas. When the take-back program for the Brita filters is implemented, the Sierra Club urges Clorox to build or contract with a facility in a location with stringent environmental regulations. Shipping the filters to Asia for reprocessing in an ecologically damaging manner would defeat the entire purpose of the program.
By making the necessary effort to redesign the plastic housing of your water filters, by implementing a take-back program in collaboration with your retail partners, and by doing this in a manner that does not damage the local environment, we are confident the Clorox Company will set an example of producer responsibility and environmental stewardship that will be appreciated by your customers as well as the
Sierra Club.
Sincerely,
Norman La Force
Chair, Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter
NLF:sw
cc: Don Knauss, CEO
Jon Balousek, Vice President, Specialty Division
Drew McGowan, Brand Media Relations
Sunday was a great day for the race, and "race" we did across San Francisco spreading the word about the Take Back The Filter campaign. Alongside Beth, dressed as a BRITA pitcher filter cartridge, marched volunteers Tanya, as a German girl wondering why BRITA filters are recyclable in Germany but not the U.S., and Christa, dressed as a combination incinerator/landfill (with actual BRITA filters combined with other garbage attached to her skirt) urging folks not to let their filters go up in smoke.
We passed out little flyers (click here if you'd like some to print and pass out [PDF format]) and explained the campaign to many people who enthusiastically pledged to sign the petition and spread the word. At the Footstock Costume Contest, we took the stage and announced the campaign to an appreciative crowd.
Now that the costume and signs have been created, look for us to take to the streets again to gather signatures and support. Would you like us to visit your venue? E-mail beth@myplasticfreelife.com. Want to make your own BRITA costume? Contact me and I'll send you instructions for how I made mine. Have more ideas for campaign promotion? We want to hear them!
This may look like ordinary white poster board, but in a few days it will transform into a BRITA water filter costume I'll wear to cross San Francisco at the ING Bay to Breakers this Sunday in an effort to publicize the campaign to a wider audience. Thing is, I can't do it alone!
I'd love to have at least one volunteer to help pass out flyers along the route. More volunteers would be even better. Let's create a last-minute team of folks wearing www.takebackthefilter.org signs on their fronts and backs and helping the BRITA cartridge escape the landfill.
Please e-mail me at beth@myplasticfreelife.com if you're interested in participating this Sunday. It'll be fun!
BRITA water filter cartridges are starting to arrive from all over the country: Berkeley, CA; Pearland, TX; Milford, NJ; Baltimore, MD; Montgomery, AL! We've collected 22 so far and hope that number will increase dramatically as the campaign progresses.
One of Clorox's contentions is that consumers are not willing to pay a little extra for filters that are recyclable. We hope that recyclable filters will not cost more. But the fact that people are willing to pay for postage to ship their filters across the country proves that for at least some of us, protecting the environment is worth a little extra monetary cost.
So please keep those filters coming! Organize a group collection for your school, office, or neighborhood and send them all at once. Publish an ad on your local Craigslist or Freecycle Group requesting BRITA filters. And don't forget, we want BRITA faucet filters too.
I'll post regular updates of the numbers collected here. Stay tuned!
We've been especially pleased that No Impact Man Colin Beavan wrote a terrific article about the campaign that has helped to put us over 2,000 signatures. Many more bloggers and web sites are jumping on the bandwagon. Here are more sites that have promoted the campaign since I last reported on 4/19:
Earlier this month, our group efforts were rewarded as we caught the attention of Clorox. On the 17th, Beth received an email from an individual representing Clorox asking to meet with her. The email said,
“I've seen you Web site and your campaign and would love to speak with you personally so I can explain what we are doing as a company and potentially work together towards a solution.”
Progress came quickly considering the group was founded in January of this year!
The meeting with the Clorox representative shed some light on Clorox’s stance, but left many questions as well. Clorox continued to defend the uncertainty behind recycling filters in the US citing barriers with current waste management practices, consumer demand, and economic feasibility (meaning they aren’t sure they are willing to bear the costs of a recycling program or whether their customers would be willing to do so).
Our group has followed this conversation up with a letter of our concerns, including our thoughts on sending plastic to China for recycling if (and when) a filter recycling program is instituted.
(Side note: Why are we so concerned about plastic recycling happening over seas rather than here at home? Please take a look at the following BBC report to understand what happens when our plastic waste is shipped to Asia.)
This early conversation with Clorox indeed reiterated the need for this campaign to push forward. It is vital we show Clorox that the demand is there for a filter recycling program.
