Brita Water Filters

I received an e-mail yesterday from Becky Verhey on behalf of FilterForGood stating, “Since you wrote about the recyclability of Brita filters, I wanted to give you a heads up that Brita will announce today that it is  offering a recycling solution for its pitcher water filters. ”  She goes on to talk positively about Brita water pitchers, “…it would take 300 standard 16.9-ounce bottles of water to replace just one Brita pitcher filter“.  I wonder if they use any PVC in the making of their filters. I will send them an e-mail and ask.

Here is the information you need, beginning in January 2009, Brita pitcher filters can be dropped off at participating Whole Foods Markets or mailed to Preserve (another company I wrote about), who will recycle 100 percent of each Brita plastic pitcher filter casing collected for use in its line of recyclable household goods.

I have the Ultramax Dispenser and like it. I can also be riddled with less guilt now that I can recycle the filters. I was saving them already to send to FiltersforGood, who were collecting them from people to make a point. Now, hopefully I can just bring them down to the Whole Foods on 14th and have them recycled. I wonder what Whole Foods is going to do with them. I don’t trust that corporation. I worked for them for over five years when I was a kid in Chicago…long story…

I am glad Brita figured something good and I think FilterForGood is fresh for fighting the good fight.

Nice work.

-Cara

Disclaimer: I just need to say I feel weird about Brita and FilterForGood partnering up. I can’t believe the people at Brita are caring for caring’s sake. I guess in the end if there is change for the better… I am not sure…

Toothbrushes…Again!

 

I wrote a blog entry on Recycline toothbrushes last month. I sent the entry to the them to share my super fresh writing [ :) ] with the company that inspired it all. Justin from Recycline got back to me. He was cool and offered to send me a toothbrush to try if I hadn’t already picked one up [He also said, “…I can attest that, with the 12 employees of Recycline all squarely behind the company mission, I feel lucky to be able to work here.”. See the original entry to understand what he is talking about.].

I got the toothbrush yesterday, it is a cool black shade with soft bristles and I swear the handle feels like a yogurt container, but that may be more psychological than anything else. I tried the toothbrush this morning and love it so far, but like a lot of things in my life I get excited way too soon. I will use it some more then give my official review. That is not what this entry is about…it is about what am I, like millions of others, supposed to do with my regular, non-green toothbrush. I don’t want to just say too bad and throw it out. I got on the case and here’s what I found…

According to www.freshfromthefarm.us, “some 50 million pounds of toothbrushes are tossed into America’s landfills each year. “. That isn’t even the number if everyone switched their toothbrush every three months like is recommended!!! What??? That is crazy.

There are also other green alternatives besides Recycline like, the TerrAdent line of toothbrushes from Eco-Dent. They came up with this solution to be more green, replaceable heads.

Here’s what they say about it, “The most commonly available toothbrushes require you to throw away the handle every time you need to replace your toothbrush. Hundreds of millions of these plastic handles pile up in land fills all across the country, taking up space and not breaking down. At the same time, enormous resources have to be used to create more and more plastic handles to replace those in the land fills! The cycle goes on without an end–until NOW. TerrAdenT Replaceable Head toothbrushes provide the best solution by allowing you to keep the handle and simply replace the heads, quickly and conveniently, when the time comes. Others who have tried to address this problem, while well-intentioned, have not worked through the solution quite as well. TerrAdenT is a far better solution than mailing a handle back to the manufacturer for recycling, when one looks at the ecological and monetary costs involved in transporting the handles back to the manufacturer, and then going through a recycling process which requires tremendous amounts of energy to re-use the plastic, and then having to transport the new “recycled plastic goods” back into the marketplace.”

Then of course there is the original old skool eco tooth brush, Radius. The ones who cared and did something about it first.

Here’s what they sell,

The Original

The wide oval head, thumb grip and large comfortable handle available in right or left orientation makes this a classic toothbrush – now in its 22nd year of production.

The Scuba

The wide oval head flexes back and forth to remind us to reduce the pressure of brushing – large soft handle for sensitive brushing. Now in its 18th year of production.

The Intelligent Toothbrush

The Intelligent Toothbrush monitors your brushing time to 2 minutes. After 90 days of brushing it advises you to check the bristle wear and possibly change the head.

The Source

Replaceable head toothbrush with renewable resource handle – reduces environmental impact. Radial bristling – first toothbrush in the world to have it. Makes brushing easier and more effective. 3,080 Tynex nylon bristles – available in soft or medium. Reversible for right or left hand.

Replaceable heads reduce environmental impact. First toothbrush in the world to have “Radial Bristling” making brushing easier and more effective. Soft or medium.

They have also reduced their packaging recently which has lowered the shipping cost 30%.

I could not find any way to recycle toothbrushes for people who can’t find these options in their local store and don’t have the money and/or time to order toothbrushes on-line. What I did find was toothbrush crafts and other useful ways a toothbrush can be used after they are no longer cleaning your pearly whites!!!

Carol Duvall from HGTV came up with a cool solution make bracelets out of them. It is pretty basic system, but a little imagination and who knows what you can come up with. Maybe paint them or while they are malleable carve cool designs in them, or use stickers, etc.

Below are some ideas for toothbrushes after their original use is over. If you have anymore let me know and I’ll add them to the list.

1. Use for polishing your shoes. This is especially useful for where the shoe meets the sole.
2. Use for cleaning threaded mechanical parts.
3. Use for cleaning greasy auto parts.
4. The artistic type can use one as a coarse paint brush.
5. Use for cleaning combs.
6. Melt the handle until soft enough to bend at a 90 degree angle (with bristles pointing out), and use it to clean coffee makers, etc.
7. Use old ones to clean the grooves between the tiles in your bathroom or floors.
8. Using a permanent marker, you can make vegetable/flower ids for the garden.
9. Use them to hold up plants in the house.
10. Children can use them for splatter painting, or puppets.

That’s it for now. If anyone hears of a way to recycle everyday toothbrushes, let us know.

Keep it real.

-Cara
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Reason 15 from, 101 Reasons Why I Am Vegetarian:

Governments try to regulate fishing gear, catch size, species, and fishing season, but usually without success. Perhaps the biggest single threat to global fish stocks is illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing, which, it is estimated, amounts to about a quarter of the world’s catch. In some locations, IUU fishing has been documented to amount to four times the legal catch. Efforts to combat piracy are fraught with obstacles, not the least being feverish world demand for fish. For pirates, the return on investment is well worth the risks of side-stepping fishing conventions, skirting surveillance, off-loading fish to other boats that “launder” the catch, and docking at complicit ports. Because when pirates are actually caught, the penalties tend to be inordinately light.

Yogurt Toothbrushes!

Recycline Company manufactures and distributes Preserve toothbrushes, tongue cleaners, razors and tableware products. I have never used their products, but I really like how they run their business on paper [or online I should say. :P]. They use recycled plastic in the production of all Preserve products. They formed a partnership with Stonyfield Farm to recycle their plastic yogurt containers and use that plastic in the production of the their line. I love that. They are a super, fresh, ecologically friendly company. That should be an award, The 2008 Super-Fresh, Ecologically Friendly award goes to……Recycline!!! :D :D :D

 

Another environmental kudo for Recycline is they are made in the USA.  Most Preserve products are sold in the United States. By making them here, they can ship them shorter distances, using less fuel and limiting their carbon footprint. Nice…

They do not test on animals, nor do they use vendors or suppliers that do. :)  Recycline states, “In the manufacture of our products, Recycline has not and will not do any testing on animals. Recycline also requires that its vendors and suppliers do not test on animals in the delivery of supplied items.” I love animals…

Last but not least, they have a pdf on their website, so that you can print a postage-paid label to return your used Preserve toothbrushes, razors and tongue cleaners to Recycline. FREE!!! I mean what an awesome company. I love companies that allow me to do the right thing without much effort.

Here is some information they post on their website on why recycled toothbrushes are important.

Why Recycle a Toothbrush?

Dentists nationwide recommend that patients replace their toothbrushes at least 4 times a year. The ADA concurs. Toothbrushes not only lose their effectiveness, but they also build up bacteria. Though the average American currently replaces a brush only 1.5 times a year, replacement is expected to increase due to the growing awareness of the benefits of preventative oral hygiene.

If we all obey our dentists, toothbrushes will begin to make a pretty significant impact on landfills. At present replacement rates, annual toothbrush waste amounts to about 50 million pounds. With the Preserve, significant amounts of plastic waste are diverted from landfills back into usable goods. As toothbrushes become more and more of a consumable, using recycled materials and the Preserve’s recyclable design makes more and more sense.

Now, I just need to try their products and see if they rock. Ugh, that would suck if they were no good. I might still use them just for being so Earth Fresh. Next toothbrush I need, I will pick up a Preserve toothbrush and update this entry with a review of said product. I would also like to know what their employees think of working there and if it turns out good I might just create an award so they can win.

Recycle!

-Cara