Most pitcher and pour-through filters do not remove microplastics. They filter out heavy metals and a variety of particulate matter. But their membranes are typically too porous to stop nanoplastics. Your precious Brita filter may make you feel good, but it is not stopping plastic from going down your gullet. Let’s be real, it’s not even filtering viruses and bacteria. You may or may not know it, but you are leaning on your local municipal water supply to chemically shock your h-two-o, not your Brita filter.
But what is this we have here? One of our favorite companies dipping their toes into the crowded pitcher filter market and blowing everyone out of the water? (please excuse the puns). Yes, LifeStraw, known for their survival and emergency preparedness gear, has made a more powerful filter than any other home pitcher filter currently on the market. It’s also easy on the eyes. The mother lode? It’s made of glass. Oh yes, our hearts are singing right now. Glass is king. There is simply no better vessel for water. It is pure. It doesn’t leech microscopic plastics that lodge themselves in our cells.
Just look at that beauty. The glass is hand blown borosilicate glass, which is known for its high tolerance of temperature differentials.
There is a membrane microfilter and an activated carbon and ion exchange filter. The latter needs to be changed after 40 gallons of water. The membrane microfilter will last for 264 gallons, which should get you through the year. The price of the pitcher with the initial filter combo is $60 and you can expect to pay $12 every couple of months for a new activated carbon and ion exchange filter. This is absolutely reasonable. It is the only pitcher filter that is capable of removing PFAS chemicals (also called forever chemicals), bacteria and parasites, microplastics and pharmaceuticals. We’d be buyers at double or triple the price.
If you needed one more nudge in the right direction, LifeStraw provides clean drinking water for a year to a child that doesn’t have it. They have this guarantee with all of their products. They work with schools and local partners in Western Kenya to install filters and to educate both teachers and students on the importance of water purity. They are also a Climate Neutral Certified brand. They are transparent about their emission contributions and they full offset every pound of carbon that they put into the atmosphere through their operations. Did we mention they have also partnered with the Carter Center to accelerate the eradication of Guinea Worm?
There have to be some downsides, right? There might be, but nothing substantial enough to stop us from giving this LifeStraw pitcher filter a full five stars. It performs. It’s made of glass. It’s affordable. It looks good on your countertop or in your fridge. The cherry on top is that the company gives back and makes investments to mitigate their environmental impact.
Do you have any experience with LifeStraw products? Do you already have this particular pitcher filter. We would love to hear about it in the comments.
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