(April 2019) Toronto, ON - Brita Canada is partnering with world-renowned creative conservationist and National Geographic Explorer Asher Jay to create a one-of-a-kind exhibit at Toronto’s Union Station kicking-off Earth Month in April and celebrating the launch of the new Premium Filtering Water Bottle.

The 12-foot-tall installation – Niagara Now – recreates the iconic Canadian waterfall using 900 salvaged plastic bottles in an attempt to address the enormous environmental footprint of single-use plastic water bottles in Canada. Contrasted next to the sprawling horseshoe is a solitary Brita Longlast^™ Filter, capable of replacing up to 900 single use plastic water bottles (standard 500 mL bottles).

“900 represents the approximate number of bottles consumed and cast aside every five minutes just in Toronto,” explains Jay. “Most people are not conscious of that – with this installation, they actually get an immersion in the cumulative impact that opening your wallet out of ignorance has on the world around us.”

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental issues today; an estimated 22 million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes annually¹ and it is predicted that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Single-use plastic water bottles are a big part of the problem. In Canada, over 2 billion single-use plastic water bottles are consumed every year, and each bottle takes over 450 years to decompose.

“The tiniest, everyday choices we make can have a significant impact on the environment,” says Matt Kohler, Vice President Marketing Brita Canada. “The juxtaposition between the single Brita Longlast^™ filter and the towering installation is telling – all 900 of these bottles could be replaced with one simple decision.”

In addition to visualizing the sheer number of bottles consumed and discarded every five minutes in Toronto, 621 bottles are painted to showcase that 69 per cent of Canadian households prefer tap water to bottled water, 108 bottles are partially-painted representing the 12 per cent of households that drink both tap and bottled water, and 171 unpainted bottles reflect the small percentage of households that drink only bottled water.

“It’s a small fraction of society actually actively consuming bottled water yet they’re the ones leaving the numbers we’re talking about,” says Jay. “The majority of Canadians are conscientious about protecting their waterways and drink tap water but small numbers consuming it still result in the hundreds of thousands of bottles that end up in the landfill.”

The installation will be on display from April 1st- April 6th, 2019 for visitors to enter the splash zone of the plastic waterfall, take a selfie and share the #SplashSelfie far and wide so others can follow their lead and eliminate single-use plastic water bottles.

“Individually, we can each tell a story; together, we can change the whole narrative,” says Jay.

1 Source:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X1630981X?via=ihub

About Brita Canada:
As the #1 brand in water filtration, Brita believes everyone deserves cleaner, great-tasting water, but we shouldn’t have to destroy the planet to get it. Brita^® provides a selection of filtering pitchers, water bottles and faucet mount systems, which work to remove different contaminants including; chlorine (taste and odour), Copper, Mercury, Cadmium, Zinc and particulates* for better-tasting water. One Brita system replaces up to 1,800 single use plastic water bottles per year (standard 500 mL bottles). Learn more at www.brita.ca

*Substances reduced may not be in all users’ water

About Asher Jay: Asher Jay is a National Geographic Explorer, international adventurer and public figure whose compelling paintings, sculptures, installations, animations, ad campaigns, and films all have a single purpose: to incite global action on behalf of ecological conservation.

Jay’s best known for her reiterative use of the PET bottle, as a motif in her large scale installations, bringing people face to face with their dire, tangible impact on the planet, while urging them to reconsider how they participate from a moment of self-reflection and self-awareness. For more information, visit https://www.asherjay.com/

Media contact and accreditation, please contact:
Katherine Hamilton, Devon Consulting – [email protected]
Natalie Foote, Devon Consulting – [email protected]