Ideal Bite

Want your water filter cartridge to go back where it came from?

Submitted by tmeronek on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 1:36am.

The Bite:

No can do. Since using a water filter (instead of plastic water bottles) is eco-forward-thinking, it probably sounds a little, um, backward, but you can't currently recycle your H2O filter cartridges (think Brita or Pur). Ask the manufacturers to pretty please change direction, and take back their filters for recycling.

Nov. 18, 2008: SUCCESS. Thanks in no small part to the flood of letters generated by you Biters when this tip originally ran, today Brita announced a recycling program set to begin Jan. 2009. Next step: Getting Pur to take back their filters too - see a sample letter in this blog.

The Benefits:

A waste about-face. If every American started using filters instead of disposable bottles, we'd save a lotta plastic - but we'd still send 167 million filter cartridges to landfills each year.
Moving proper chem disposal forward. Toxins, such as chlorine and lead, collect in your cartridge as you use it to filter the water. A proper disposal system will prevent these from leaching into the earth.
Letting off some steam. Sound off for a good cause.

Personally Speaking:

A bunch of us have Pur brand filters - and since there's no campaign for them yet, we decided to start our own. Check out our letter to the manufacturer in the blog.

Wanna Try:

Take Back the Filter - campaign to urge Brita to take back its plastic filter cartridges. Sign the petition here.
Instructables - extreme DIYers: find out how to refill your old Brita cartridges yourself.
Brita UK - Europe's already there: UK Biters can enter their postcode to find a drop spot for recycling.

Beth Terry

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Bang For The Bite

They're already doing it in Europe - why not here? Sending manufacturers the message takes just a few minutes, and if enough of us do it, they're bound to listen up.