Now you can filter your tap water, minus all the plastic waste.

Those of us living in North America and Europe are fortunate to have tap water that is (in most cases) clean and safe to drink. Sometimes, though, tap water can have a slightly off-taste or odor that is unappealing, which is why households use filtration systems such as Brita or Zero Water.

As effective as these systems are (and they are so much better than buying bottled water), they rely on disposable filtration cartridges that must be changed out monthly, adding up to an enormous amount of plastic waste. An estimated 100 million cartridges are thrown away every year, which is enough to fill 50 jumbo jets. Surely there's a better way to do things.

Enter Phox Water, a Scottish company that has just created the world's first reusable and refillable water filtration cartridge, called the V2. Instead of tossing a cartridge when it's finished, you remove it from the water pitcher, empty out the expired contents, and add the new.

The filter components come in paper envelopes that fit inside your mailbox. They consist of coconut shell activated carbon, ion exchange resin, and electrolytes, including sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium.

You pour the contents of the packets into the filter in the correct order to establish "5 separate layers of filtration – one to remove hardness, one to add health-boosting minerals, and three layers for removing tap water contaminants." Together, these contribute to removing bad taste, odor, chlorine, copper, lead, and mercury.

© Phox Water (used with permission)

The V2 pitcher is made from glass and the upper portion with the water filter is made from recycled BPA-free, food-grade plastic. All components are manufactured in the United Kingdom and will ship throughout the UK, Europe, and United States. Refill packs work out to USD $9.25 each and last 45 days.

I am a fan of any solution that weans people off a bottled water habit, while also encouraging them to drink more water in place of other beverages. The more reusable, refillable solutions we have in our lives – and the broader the rejection of disposables – the better off we'll all be.

© Phox Water (used with permission)

The Phox V2 has just launched on Kickstarter, so if you're wanting to support the project, you can do so here, as well as learn more details about its design.