[9]Clear2Go™ (www.drinkcleangogreen.com [10]), a new water bottle brand with its own replaceable filter, recently challenged Americans to take a pledge to reduce their use of disposable plastic water bottles. As a result, the company reports, after just three weeks, eco-enthusiasts from every part of the country had pledged to keep more than 1 million disposable plastic water bottles out of the nation's landfills.

To get the word out last week, Clear2Go partnered with the Green Apple Festival on volunteer events in five cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Denver, Chicago, and Washington D.C.

In late April Clear2Go sponsored the Earth Day New York Festival at Grand Central and Miami Goin' Green at Bayfront Park in Miami. Visitors who stopped by the company’s booth were able to take the pledge and create their own electronic PSA explaining why alternatives to bottled water are important to them. In New York, Clear2Go unveiled a 20-ft scale that shows the disposable water-bottle equivalent to two Clear2Go bottles.

Says the bottle brand’s parent company, Miramar, FL-based Applica, those who did not attend the events but want to take the pledge can visit the company’s Web site. A real-time update [11] on the amount of bottles pledged and the corresponding amount of money saved by not using bottled water is also available.

New bottle’s benefits
[12]The Clear2Go water bottle can be filled from any tap-water source, providing a solution for clean water on-the-go. According to the company, the replaceable filter removes up to 99% of microbial cysts and filters up to 100 gallons of water—the equivalent of using 757 half-liter disposable plastic water bottles.

The average cost of drinking the recommended amount of water using one Clear2Go water bottle costs between $14.99 and $17.99, Applica says, and one filter can last up to three months. Clear2Go can be purchased at select Whole Foods Markets, Walmart stores, Amazon.com, and BuyClear2Go.com.