Brita and Parley join forces to end single-use plastic bottles and envision the future of water
Water is the essential, all-connecting life force that makes Earth habitable. It is also a finite resource increasingly threatened by human activity, from pollution, contamination and heat-trapping emissions. On this fast-changing planet, access to clean, healthy and safe drinking water is unevenly distributed, and not something anyone can take for granted. That’s why Brita and Parley for the Oceans are embarking on a long-term partnership, committing to a series of actions, and tapping into emerging technologies inspired by and drawn from the natural world to present a vision of the future: clean water for everyone, everywhere, without waste.
Together we share the mission to end the single-use plastic water bottle and introduce the “Future of Water” — a collaborative design exploration envisioning what Brita x Parley products and access to safe drinking water could look like in the future through radical material innovation and collaboration.
Billions of years of evolution have allowed the natural world to find ways to remove toxic materials from the soil, cells, and the oceans, creating the systems that sustain life. In the span of decades, humans altered everything. Around 70 years ago, the single-use plastic bottle was invented and used to package our lifeblood in a material that never biodegrades. Today, 1 million plastic drinking bottles are consumed globally every minute (UNEP). The vast majority of plastic bottles consumed globally end up in landfills or the oceans, where they pollute for centuries. Meanwhile, by 2025, the WHO estimates half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas. To rewrite the story, we need to imagine a better way forward.
“Future of water” — A SYMBOL OF CHANGE
narrated by legendary oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle presenting an exploration of science and design to end the single-use plastic bottle by collaborating with nature
The Brita x Parley “Future of Water” is a design exploration that envisions a filtration system inspired by the greatest designer: nature. It consists of customizable elements that combine to form a filtration system adaptable to all needs and situations.
In the design concept, future materials made with organic substances like lignin, algae and mycelium replace any need for plastics. The filtration ring is the central element of the modular system that can be used alone with a tap faucet or configured to create an attachment for bottles and pitchers. The ideal system would remove and break down contaminants while enriching water. At their end-of-use, each component would either be biodegradable or returned for renewal and reuse.
To bring the “Future of Water” into reality, Brita and Parley will tap into advancements in green chemistry, biomaterials and biomimicry solutions following a vision for the future where access to water is safe, equitable and free of plastics and waste. This concept represents an idea, a goal and a symbol of what’s possible through material science, eco-innovation and collaboration. It’s a catalyst for the long-term journey and mission we are embarking on together, starting with immediate action through the Parley AIR Strategy.
THE STRATEGY TO MAKE CHANGE A REALITY
To address the interconnected global crises of plastic waste and water scarcity, Parley and Brita are outlining a series of immediate commitments and envisioning, through our “Future of Water“ exploration, what could be achieved next. A shared commitment to the Parley AIR Strategy (Avoid, Intercept, Redesign) will drive the vision and framework for change:
Avoid plastic wherever possible.
Brita and Parley will work side-by-side to provide more people with clean, healthy tap water so that more households can choose to avoid single-use plastic water bottles.
The partners will explore innovation of Brita products to reduce and ultimately avoid plastic altogether, beginning by eliminating single-use plastic packaging.
Intercept plastic waste before it reaches our environment.
Through Parley’s Global Cleanup Network, Brita will support the interception of marine plastic debris equal to its current plastic filter footprint.
Redesign the materials, methods and systems at the source of the problem.
Parley and Brita will design eco-innovative products to bring an end to the single-use plastic water bottle and replace plastic with eco-innovative materials and filtration solutions.
“The single-use plastic water bottle is a symbol and symptom of a broken system. We cannot continue to package our most precious, life-giving resource in a design failure that poisons the oceans and threatens our own health. With billions of people already facing the reality of water shortages, we know we have to change. To create a better future, we need to imagine an alternative way forward. Parley has demonstrated before that a ‘symbol of change,’ or product fiction, can be the vehicle that allows us to take an idea and transform it into reality. With Brita, we will harness collaboration and eco-innovation to transform the future of water, the lifeblood we share with the oceans.”
– Cyrill Gutsch, Founder, Parley for the Oceans
“This partnership is one of the most important actions we’ve taken as a company to further align with our sustainability goals. Through our work with Parley, we’ve been able to conceptualize a world that is free from single-use plastic water bottles and demonstrate how this once ambitious idea can be our new reality. This design has been in the works for some time, and we’re looking forward to using it as inspiration for products we're bringing to market in the near future.”
– Eric Schwartz, General Manager, Brita
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Learn more about Brita’s Goals for the Planet and commitment to send zero plastic waste to landfill by 2030:
1 in 3 people globally do not have access to safe drinking water.
Globally, humans buy about 1,000,000 plastic bottles per minute. Roughly 2,000 plastic water bottles are used every second
Only about 23% of plastic bottles are recycled within the U.S. Of these 50 billion bottles, 80% end up in a landfill.
Of the bottles that are put in recycling bins in homes, a staggering 50% of them are never recycled.
A full 32% of the 78 million tons of plastic packaging produced annually is left to flow into our oceans
Last year alone, Brita® customers filtered enough water to replace over 13 billion plastic water bottles.
Brita is on track to eliminate 15 billion single-use plastic water bottles this year, working toward a 2030 goal of replacing 20 billion bottles a year.
