Is bottled water going the way of cigarettes, being outlawed in government buildings and in public? We hope so, in the sense of the disposable water bottle. Reusable stainless steel or aluminum water bottles filled from filtered taps are a great idea. Not only do you control the quality of water you drink but also you reduce reliance on oil and the contribution to landfills. Saving water and your health is a great idea.
San Francisco is setting the bar for other communities and cities across the country and around the world. The mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, has issued an executive order in June 2007, banning bottled water from being purchased by any of the city's departments beginning July 1st. Water coolers are included in this ban also, but the date that this becomes effective is December 1st. The mayor believes that this ban can help to set an example that other communities will follow to help decrease the effect that these water bottles can have upon the environment.
What kind of effect does bottled water have on the environment? The mayor cites the fact that over a billion of these water bottles end up in landfills across the country each and every year, because people are too lazy or unknowledgeable about recycling them. This takes up quite a bit of needed room in the landfills and it causes communities to have to increase the size of their landfills to help keep up with the amount of trash that the citizens create. There are other effects, too.
The fact that all of this bottled water has to be transported around the country can have an effect upon the air. Although most people do not think that it will make much of a difference in the amount of pollutants released into the air via the truck exhaust and diesel usage, any decrease in driving can help to make an impact upon the air and air pollution. If you consider how many bottles of water that you see each day at work, at the gym, or as you go through your day, consider that number multiplied by all the cities in the country. That is approximately the number of water bottles that are transported around the country.
Making the bottles the water goes into consumes millions of barrels of oil each year and this amount of oil is increased by the fact that it is needed in transportation as well. This is a very important issue in this particular time of history, due to the high price of oil and the demand of our country for oil.
The mayor also claims that the tap water that is available in San Francisco is just as clean and healthy tasting as bottled water. This claim has been refuted by the IBWA (International Bottled Water Association). They agree with the fact that San Francisco has clean and flavorful water, but they believe that the mayor has made it more of a "bottled water vs. tap water" issue. The IBWA claims that bottled water is unparalleled for its consistent taste, color, quality, and convenience.
Other cities have begun movements against the bottled water as well. Salt Lake City's Mayor, Rocky Anderson, and R.T. Rybak, the mayor of Minneapolis, along with Newsom are calling for a study of the impact of bottled water upon the budgets of the cities and the landfills. Anderson has already decreased the use of bottled water in the Salt Lake City's offices and at events sponsored by the city, but he feels that more knowledge needs to be gained to make further changes.
All of this shows us, as citizens, that some of the government officials are finally gaining wisdom about the effect bottled water can have upon the finances of the purchaser (in these cases, the cities) and the environment. By supporting the government by following their recommendations, you can help to become a key in decreasing the amount of pollution that is caused by bottled water.
