Filter water on the go: BRITA Fill & Go

Is it just me, or is our conscientiousness of our environment and our food sources a double-edged sword? On the one hand, being informed is always priority, because we get to the truth of the matter, and can make better decisions accordingly.

On the other hand, with all that knowledge it’s easy to feel a little down about just how much needs to change and how much damage has already been done to the environment. With that in mind, I adore any product, service or idea that’s good for the planet, good for me, and (hallelujah chorus playing in the background) easy.

ALSO SEE: How To Reduce Your Toxic Load

YOUR PORTABLE WATER FILTER SOLUTION

My newest find is the BRITA Fill & Go Active Water Filter Bottle. This product is nothing short of genius, because it comes complete with a built-in portable water filter.

There are a number of reasons the BRITA Fill & Go bottle ticks the boxes for me:

It suits travellers

Or basically anyone on the go. I love being able to filter my water at home, and now I can filter water wherever I am, whatever water source I have on offer. Public bathrooms, offices, airports… I don’t have to worry about the quality of the water, or have to buy bottled water. Which brings me to my next point...

It fights the good fight against disposable plastic bottles

And that’s no coincidence either. BRITA is dedicated to something bigger than sales; they want to instigate real change. And like any great campaign, they’re being specific about it. With the world consuming a horrifying 2000 plastic bottles every second of every day, our wallets, landfills and schools are being affected. Schools, specifically, because many have water contamination issues, and are forced to spend their already-limited-budgets on bottled water. Bright ideas like these Fill & Go bottles are a step towards using less disposable plastic – an essential criterion right now.

It’s more affordable than bottled water

Sometimes, good-quality wellness products can be expensive, but not in this case. The BRITA Fill & Go is a once-off cost of R249, and the portable water filter replacement MicroDiscs cost roughly R299 for 3. One MicroDisc filters up to 150 litres of water – roughly 4 weeks or more of your drinking water intake. This equates to a handful of cents per litre of water. And that’s only when the portable water filter is operating at peak performance. You could happily stretch this use out to two months per filter. Bottled water, on the other hand, is usually upwards of R10 a bottle.

The specs are good

There’s no point having a great idea, presented in a form that’s not user-friendly. It’s not just BRITA’s idea of portable water filtration that’s good, they’ve packaged it in a bottle you’ll want to use. It’s easy to clean (dishwasher-friendly is a must), it holds 600ml of water, and – most importantly – it’s BPA-free. Colour, for me, isn’t a big deal, but beyond the charcoal/black exterior, you can choose between blue or pink accents. And finally…

It does its job properly

The goal is to filter water after all, so: How well does the BRITA Fill & Go do this? Pretty darn well it seems.

The MicroDiscs filter out:

• Zinc: Exposure to zinc can cause nausea and vomiting, and long-term effects of anaemia and pancreatic damage.
• Cadmium: Exposure to cadmium can cause liver damage.
• Chlorine: Chlorine leaves a bad taste and odour in your tap water.
• Copper: Exposure to copper can cause gastrointestinal distress and liver and kidney damage.
• Mercury: Mercury from landfills can lead to kidney damage over time.
• Lead: Exposure to high levels of lead may cause anaemia, weakness, kidney damage and more.

I’m definitely happy to keep all those nasties out my drinking water, thank you! If you want to get your own BRITA Fill & Go bottles and portable water filtering capsules, you’ll find them on takealot.com and yuppichef. Have you tried these bottles yet? What do you think?