Recycle Your Brita Filter!

Everyone using a Brita filter instead of buying bottled water is doing a great thing for the environment. You're conserving petroleum that is used to make those plastic bottles and fuel it takes to transport them.

But what about those plastic Brita water filters you change every few months? If you toss them in the garbage to rot for centuries, is the Brita system still that green?

Put aside your Brita filter worries because now those used plastic menaces are recyclable.

Brita announced yesterday (11/18/08) that beginning Janurary 2009 their filters can be recycled by either taking them to a local participating Whole Food store or by mailing them in.

Clorox Company, who owns Brita, is working with a plastics reycling company called Preserve. Preserve is going to take the plastic filters made of No. 5 polypropylene plastic and turn them into eco-friendly, 100% recyclable personal care, tableware and kitchen products.

According to Clorox, "Preserve will recycle 100 percent of each Brita plastic pitcher filter casing collected. The No. 5 polypropylene plastic from the casing will be used by Preserve in their line of products. The filter ingredients - activated carbon for creating great-tasting water and additional ion-exchange resin that reduces lead, mercury, copper, cadmium and zinc that might be found in tap water - will be regenerated for alternative use or converted into energy."

The mail-in address has not yet provided but we will post it as soon as we get it. If you mail your filters into Brita, even the box will be recycled! Brita users rejoice!