Filtering For Change

I’m not ashamed to admit I’m blogging for The Man.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have been offered the opportunity to blog for Brita’s “Filter For Good” campaign for the next few months. What makes this job sweeter is that for the first time, I’m making money writing about what I love. Every little bit counts, and even though the NINE PAGE contract I signed freaked me out a bit, I felt empowered by my skills as a writer, and felt my passion could be used to influence the masses (or at least, my readers) into taking their green living a step further by pledging to bring filters instead of disposable bottles in their homes.

When I announced my new gig on teensygreen, I thought my readers would be as excited as I was. Instead, I received some comments asking me how I could possibly blog not only for a major public company (Brita is owned by Clorox), but because Brita does not and cannot recycle their filters. More specifically, comments led me to the Take Back the Filter campaign, aimed at “asking Clorox to go further and take responsibility for the millions of plastic filter cartridges that are also land-filled or incinerated each year.”

Yikes! I felt like a hypocrite, and one that hadn’t even done her homework! I had no idea that Brita did not recycle their filters, and I debated backing out of the job.

I voiced my concern to my contact, who explained to me that Brita is in contact with the founder of Take Back the Filter, Beth Terry, to keep up an effective dialogue about solutions for both parties. My contact also explained to me that there is currently no infrastructure in general to collect water filters, from Brita or anyone else, and that recycling options are currently being researched. The ultimate bottom line, however, is that using one filter saves up to 300 bottles of water from going into landfills, which is no easy feat!

The idea of using water filters instead of bottled water is economical as well as healthful. Reports and admissions that certain bottled waters really consist of filtered tap water was more than disappointing, but ultimately empowered consumers to take an extra step and filter water themselves.

Investing in filters for taps as well as reusable bottles pays off almost immediately. Indeed, consumers are making a huge change in their water buying and drinking habits, as this recent article reports a double digit decline for many beverage companies in their bottled water sector. It’s encouraging to know that people are making conscious decisions to really think about not only their own health, but their waste patterns and the consequences of non-recyclable habits.

So yes, please support Take Back the Filter, and sign the petition to ask Brita to find a way to properly recycle their filters. But also, please check out Filter For Good and make a pledge to go filtered.

It takes some practice, but your wallet (and your eco-conscience) will thank you!

An original 5 Minutes For Going Green post. You can read more and find some practical green tips from Stefani Newman at her blog teensygreen.