Why would you need a refillable water filter cartridge when some traditional filter suppliers have recycling schemes in place anyway? 

That might seem like a good question on the face of things, but dig a little deeper and you'll see why a refillable cartridge is not only a no-brainer for you but also a no-brainer for the planet. 

Carbon Footprint of the Recycling Journey

Let's think about all the steps a used water filter cartridge has to go through on its recycling journey. 

Meet Joanne. Joanne has a Brutal water filter. It has come to the end of its 30-day cycle and she has to take it for recycling.

The nearest store which has a recycling point is 5 miles away. Once the cartridges have been dropped off at the store, they have to be collected and transported to the recycling plant. 

After all that, it's time to start another 30-day cycle with a new cartridge made from virgin plastic. By the end of production, each cartridge will have been responsible for around 850g of CO2. More than 21,000 tonnes of CO2 is produced every year in the production of traditional water filter cartridges. 

The Most Sustainable Water Filter Ever Made

With a Phox V2's refillable cartridge there is no such need for any of these steps. All you have to do is empty out the old media and refill it with the fresh filter contents. 

That means no inefficient and inconvenient trips to the store and no need for anyone to collect used filters and transport them to be recycled. 

And when it comes to refills, our packs can be posted through your letterbox meaning no missed deliveries which result in avoidable retries or trips to the post office. 

When we think about having a truly sustainable future, recyclability has to be overtaken by reusability. Recyclability is important, of course, but isn't it a damn sight better if we don't need to recycle at all? 

With recyclable products, users are only given the choice to recycle. Do they have the motivation to recycle? Is it convenient for them? Will they remember? Will the materials still be in recyclable condition by the time they reach the recycling plant? With reusable products, there are no questions. 

Products that can be reused also circumvent all of those carbon emissions from the recycling journey and in the case of something like water filters, reduce the constant production of replacements made with virgin plastic.

Those products are not only a no-brainer for you but a no-brainer for the planet too. 

You can pre-order a Phox V2 on Kickstarter right now! 

On Monday we pushed the button to launch our Kickstarter campaign for the new V2 Phox jug and in just 34 hours we have reached our funding goal of £15,000! 

We have to be honest and say that launching a new product on Kickstarter can be pretty daunting. We've put in so much work over the last 18 months and it was vital for us to get off to a great start. If only we knew last week how much support people would have for us we wouldn't have been so nervous! 

Reaching this goal so early gets the product on its way to having the huge impact we hoped for in the design process. Our backers will have a more beautiful, and most importantly, a more sustainable way to drink. 

If you're not already aware of our wonderful new product, it contains a revolutionary refillable cartridge, recycled plastic and glass, letterbox delivery and a choice of filter refills to suit your tap water. 

You can check out the campaign here and please back us if you haven't already.

It's so satisfying to have a vision, turn it into a product and see other people enjoying it and believing in the impact it can have. We are super happy to have you all on the mission to reduce single-use plastic with us. Thank you all so much! 

This is just the beginning.

The huge media exposure given to the plastic crisis over the past 12 months has given birth to a range of new ideas and measures to reduce both production and waste. Across the UK we've banned plastic cotton buds, hid and replaced plastic straws, introduced deposit return schemes and even forced tea companies and crisp manufacturers to rethink their packaging choices. 

Quite a lot of movement in the short space of a year, considering the lack of action on plastic pollution for so long. It's amazing what some mainstream media exposure can do to propel an issue into the front of everyone's conscious. 

The raft of measures to tackle plastic waste has triggered the revival of public water fountains with London leading the way by installing 20 new fountains over the summer and now following up with a proposal to install 100 new drinking taps across the city by the end of 2020. 

Scottish Water's Smart Taps

Scottish Water has announced a new project to install smart top-up taps in 30 towns and cities over the next two years. These public drinking taps will track the volume of water filled up from each location and estimate the amount of money and plastic saved. 

The locations are still to be finalised with local councils, however the first tap will be installed outside the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh. Scottish Water plans to install 10 taps by the end of March 2019, with the other 9 likely to be in Glasgow, Ayr, Dumfries, Dunfermline, Fort William, Milngavie, Oban, Inverness and Aberdeen. 

Despite the rise against plastic bottles, not all areas of the UK are developing new, updated public drinking fountains. In Manchester there are no council maintained drinking taps while across 5 Merseyside council area there are also none. 

Elsewhere, Tyne and Wear has one outdoor fountain in South Tyneside and two in Sunderland, while there are four across the West Midlands and one in West Yorkshire. 

What Impact Will They Have? 

It's hard to say how successful the new public drinking taps will be before they have been introduced, however there's no doubt they will help reduce plastic water bottle use. The data taken from the Scottish Water fountains will be interesting and the existing taps in London have been well received by the public. 

There may also be a public health boost, with some advocates suggesting the water fountains are likely to reduce consumption of sugary drinks because the water is totally free for anyone to use. However, the true impact of the taps in terms of health is likely to be one which will be determined in years to come. 

According to Scottish Water research, 65% of the public prefer tap water over other varieties and they also find that 36% carry reusable bottles always or often. These statistics provide a strong foundation for the fountains to be a success and given the reputed high quality of most Scottish tap water, there shouldn't be any taste issues for the public - the same thing can't be said of London! 

Get Smart Tap Ready 

If you're not already among the 36% who carry a reusable water bottle always or often, you can join the clan with a Phox Go double-walled stainless steel bottle.