From Brita Customer Service

[Caroline Eader]

I was not happy when I called Brita and found out I could not get one simple, molded part replaced on my water dispenser.  I was also told my entire dispenser was not recyclable.

So I went to the Brita website:  http://www.brita.com/contact/contact-form-english/

I am very disappointed that replacement parts are not available for my Brita dispenser.  And what really upsets me is that the plastic used for my dispenser is NOT recyclable. 
I watch your commercials and how your company wants to be seen as environmentally responsible.  However, until you provide replacement parts and accept old dispensers for recycling, you are falling short of the mark. 
My purchasing choices are to buy from sustainability focused companies.  Once you update your manufacturing and start a take-back policy, I will once again purchase your products.
An email about your progress to improve this oversight would be appreciated.
Thank you.

Below is the email response I rec'd:

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From: br...@consumerreply.com
To: caroli...@msn.com
Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2012 08:53:44 -0500
Subject: Reference Number: 7122108

August 26, 2012
Ms. Caroline Eader xxxxx
Boulder, CO  80302-4682
Reference Number: 7122108

Dear Ms. Eader,

Thank you for taking time to contact Brita. We appreciate hearing from consumers, and we're glad you share our concern about Brita filter recycling and the proliferation of bottled water waste.

Brita pitchers are made from #5 plastic and are recyclable but there is no collection stream readily available to the public. However, they are designed for long-term use and not for use as a disposable product.

Lastly, we are pleased to inform you that you are now able to recycle your Brita water pitcher filters through a program with Preserve, by dropping them off at participating Whole Foods Market stores or mailing them directly to Preserve. Preserve, the leading maker of 100 percent recycled household consumer goods, will then use the filters in creating its line of fully recyclable personal care, tableware and kitchen products. Details about both programs will be available at www.brita.com.

We hope you will take advantage of the filter recycling program. In the meantime, if you would like more information on the different ways drinking Brita water benefits the environment relative to bottled water, please visit www.filterforgood.com.

Sincerely,
Shylow Hogan
Consumer Response Representative
Consumer Services

Did you know: Brita Pour Through Filters are now recyclable. For more information visit Brita.com.

To let us know what you think about your experience emailing our company, please click on the following link to complete an online satisfaction survey.

http://research.affina.com/snaponline/surveylogin.asp?k=125970506806

Caroline

Sustainable = Harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged.

[Mary Lou Van Deventer]

Brita's calibration shouldn't be their environmental benefit compared to the worst, bottled water, but compared to the best, tap water from municipal systems for those of us who don't have wells on our own property that are recharged by rain or free-flowing streams.  

Their products are designed for "long-term use," which apparently means until a part breaks.  Let's talk at least seven generations before we say "long term."  

To be recyclable but not have a "collection stream readily available to the public" is the same as unrecyclable.  

They miss the point entirely.  

What will Nestle Waters do?  They're involved in Recycling Reinvented, which wants to set up market-controlling EPR stewardship organizations for beverage containers in states with low recycling rates.  That will help recover the plastic bottles that contain the water they sell, not to mention take over the existing container market.  In British Columbia, that kind of takeover has put some existing recyclers out of business.  The steward's job will be to prevent landfilling.  But that doesn't answer the other sustainability questions underlying plastic bottles of water.  Does taking responsibility for the containers through an EPR steward provide permission to make and sell plastic water bottles?  Nestle in Europe apparently favors incineration, but Nestle Waters North America says they're independent of the European incarnation of Nestle.  

It will be a Brave New EPR World coming up pretty quickly now.  

Aunty Entropy 

(Mary Lou Van Deventer)  

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