New and Improved?

We have decided to no longer have Canadian Springs deliver water to our home.  We've been using their product for five years or so and have decided that shipping plastic jug bottled water around in trucks makes little sense.

1) The water from the city is likely just as good.
2) The pollution caused by all of this trucking, manufacturing of bottles and the bottling process is not something we want to partake in anymore.
3) We save money (each bottle 18.5L bottle of Canadian Springs costs us $7.25 or 39 cents a litre).
4) We have gained back the space in our kitchen that was taken by the bottles and the stand :-)

So, instead we are drinking the water from the tap....but we are filtering it.  We've bought a $35 Brita Filter.  The filters cost $8.  They need to be changed every 150L or two months.  Per litre that is 5 cents, per year that is $48.  Even if you were to factor the cost of the Brita jug you still are saving a load of money and helping the environment.   Yes, I realize that those filters can't be recycled in North America yet (see Take Back the Filter).

Now, having said all this there is one other item that is bugging me about Brita and the pitcher we bought.  It has to do with filter change reminders.  When we first bought a Brita years ago (before our Canadian Springs interlude) the company told users to change their filters every two months.  People had to just....wait for it....remember!  Then came a new and improved filter that had a mechanism that turned and indicated when a filter was due to be changed.  Now, they have "new and improved" again by introducing a battery operated indicator on the covers to let us know that two months are up.  By having this batter operated gadget in place Brita is adding to the waste being created.  They should just let their customers remember to change filters....use your calendar, use your brain...remember?  That is what that grey matter is for.

Comments

Sleepwalker said…
Actually, when the filter is all used up, we open it and scatter the charcoal in the dirt to feed our plants. We read about it somewhere. It makes them happy. And then we recycle the plastic...
Congrats on your decision!
Anonymous said…
Yes, adding a battery adds to the waste, and batteries contain toxic heavy metals. Oh good grief. Clorox (maker of Brita) is driving me crazy.

Thanks for mentioning the Take Back The Filter campaign.

Sleepwalker, it depends on what toxins of microbes could be trapped in the filter whether the charcoal is okay for your plants or not. And that depends on the quality of your water and whether or not it's going through lead pipes. You don't want to feed your plants lead, right?

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