Parley For The Oceans has formed a long-term partnership with Brita to end the use of single-use plastic water bottles.

“The single-use plastic water bottle is a symbol and symptom of a broken system,” said Cyrill Gutsch, founder, Parley For The Oceans. “We cannot continue to package our most precious, life-giving resource in a design failure that threatens the oceans and human health. With billions of people already facing the reality of water shortages, we know we have to change. But to create a better future, we first need to imagine one. 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 the powers of design and science and collaborate with nature to transform the future of water, the lifeblood we share with the oceans.”

Under the partnership, Parley and Brita will work to design eco-products to end single-use plastic water bottles and replace plastic with eco-materials and filtration systems. The partnership also includes steps to avoid plastic wherever possible and
intercepted plastic waste before it impacts the environment.

This partnership builds on Brita’s sustainability goals: to make water better for people and the planet, including providing access to clean water in vulnerable U.S. communities; having zero plastic waste to landfill by 2030; creating curbside recyclable packaging using 100 percent recycled fibers; and removing 20 billion single-use plastic water bottles from circulation per year by 2030.

“This partnership is one of the most important actions we’ve taken as a brand to help achieve our sustainability goals,” said Eric Schwartz, GM, Brita. “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 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.”

Parley For The Oceans has formed alliances with major partners including Adidas, Anheuser Busch InBev (Corona), American Express, the Republic of the Maldives, the United Nations, the World Bank, the British Fashion Council, and Giesecke+Devrient.

Photo courtesy Parley For The Oceans x Brita