It's all FilterForGood at The Sundance Film Festival

The environment will play a starring role at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, the first major film festival to partner with FilterForGood, a campaign to reduce bottled water waste. Brita and Nalgene will provide free FilterForGood reusable bottles attendees can fill at Brita Hydration Stations located throughout the festival. Through these small changes, the festival will eliminate the complimentary distribution of single-serve bottles of water, which totaled 50,000 last year, for the first time in its history. The 25th Sundance Film Festival runs January 15-25, 2009 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

Americans throw away about 38 billion plastic water bottles each year,¹ where the bottles could sit in landfills for up to 1,000 years before biodegrading.² The FilterForGood campaign began in 2007 as part of Brita and Nalgene's mission to reduce bottled water waste by offering a greener solution to healthier,³ great-tasting water at home and on the go. Through the Web site www.FilterForGood.com, users can pledge to switch to a reusable Nalgene water bottle filled with Brita filtered water. To date, an estimated more than 110 million bottles have been saved thanks to those who took the FilterForGood pledge. For around $10, you can also purchase the iconic green FilterForGood Nalgene bottle, just like the ones filmgoers and celebrities at the festival will be carrying.

"Sundance Institute is committed to reducing our environmental impact during the festival and throughout the year," said Jill Miller, Managing Director of The Sundance Institute. "Thanks to Brita and Nalgene, we will reduce the need for 50,000 bottles of water at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and we hope to be completely bottled water-free in 2010."

Viewers at home can learn more about FilterForGood and other simple eco-friendly tips on the Sundance Channel. Brita will be featured in an episode of the channel's "Spotlight" series and will capture the excitement of the festival in a series of vignettes, scheduled to air throughout 2009 and early 2010.

This is not the first time FilterForGood has made an impact in the world of entertainment. NBC's top rated reality show "The Biggest Loser" (Tuesdays, 8/7 C) eliminated bottled water from the set for the last two seasons. Contestants, trainers and crew switched to FilterForGood Nalgene bottles and Brita water, resulting in a savings of more than 64,000 disposable bottles being used and potentially landfilled. That equals substantial cost savings too, since Brita water costs just pennies per gallon.

"The FilterForGood campaign not only benefits the environment by reducing plastic bottle waste and resource consumption, but it also saves money by cutting out the expense of bottled water," said Drew McGowan, Brita Senior Group Manager. "From homes to film sets and festivals, leveraging this eco-friendly initiative could help groups stay within budget, especially during tough economic times."

Now it is easy for any organization to support the FilterForGood campaign. Get a personalized recommendation on the products that will work best for your organization, like Brita pitchers for conference rooms and Brita faucet filtration systems for kitchen sinks at work, and even customize FilterForGood bottles with your group's logo. Visit http://www.FilterForGood.com/Groups to learn more.