San Francisco Bans Bottled Water on Public Land

This spring, the city of San Francisco passed an ordinance to prohibit the sale and distribution of single-use plastic water bottles on public property. 

This video highlights the San Francisco city leaders and community members who led the way and includes information on the passing and future implementation of the ordinance, and how it can serve as a model to reduce plastic pollution in cities around the world. 

Mount Rainier to Ban Bottled Water

Across the country numerous institutions have banned bottled water. Colleges, universities, and National Parks are leading the nationwide movement. Earlier this month, following a Corporate Accountability International petition, reports surfaced that Mount Rainier National Park could be one of the next National Parks to ban bottled water.

Notice the resemblance? Mount Rainier photo from Mount Rainier National Park's website.

Multiple accounts cite a March 25th press release (which I have been unable to locate) in which the park's superintendent, Randy King, writes that he is preparing Mount Rainier National Park for a bottled water ban. 

It appears that Mt. Rainier National Park will first install multiple refilling stations to establish infrastructure which will make it more convenient to opt for the tap, while cooperating with concessions to ensure reusable bottles are available at the park. 

"After refill stations and low-cost water bottles are in place, we’ll complete the analysis necessary to make a decision on the sale of bottled water in the park." Randy King says in a quote from Corporate Accountability International's Think Outside the Bottle site. 

Randy King also said, "The National Park Service is committed to being a worldwide leader in sustainability. Reducing, reusing and recycling are all steps in the right direction at Mount Rainier National Park.  We recognize 'reducing' our footprint as the most important of the 3R's."

The future doesn't look very bright for bottled water, especially at our National Parks, 14 parks have already banned the sale of bottled water. Amidst the growing opposition, the bottled water industry won't go down without a fight.

A Petition to Ban Bottled Water in National Parks

Refilling station from Grand Canyon National Park, photo from nps.gov/grca

Corporate Accountability International is currently running a petition to make our national parks bottled water free. The petition is 3,760 signatures away (1,240 total as of February 27th) from their goal of 5,000 signatures. A few National Parks have already taken the initiative and banned the sale of bottled water, including Grand Canyon National Park, Saguaro National Park, and Zion National Park. It just takes a few seconds to sign the online petition which will "...help bottled water take a hike out of our national parks by phasing out sales as soon as possible. We can promote and protect the environment, and the tap, by making clear that water, like our parks, is not for sale and deserves our long-term investment," you may also consider checking out Corporate Accountability International's Think Outside the Bottle campaign.

UPDATE (March 24) : The petition got a big boost and is now only 448 signatures away from the goal of 5000, click here to sign the petition.

Is Recycling Bottled Water a Beautiful Thing?

Four separate Youtube screen captures from Arrowhead's video Recycling is a Beautiful Thing (see video below) 

Bottled water companies have had an uphill climb in getting a piece of the beverage industry (imagine trying to sell a product that is already available for free in your home). A main point in The Story of Bottled Water is that the industry has had to "manufacture demand". After marketing bottled water as a cleaner and more convenient product than tap water the industry had to reassure consumers that bottled water was safe for the environment; greenwashing. Arrowhead, which is a Nestle brand name used to sell bottled water to the western United States, launched the "Recycling is a Beautiful Thing" campaign in 2012 and they released a stop-motion video February 12th to "...demonstrate that recycled materials have significant second life utility" (article) and to promote their 50% recycled PET bottle.

Large companies, and even entire industries, should do everything they can to be conscience of wasteful practices, create sustainable products, and help protect the environment. In the case of the bottled water industry (Arrowhead for example); they are deceiving the public into thinking their products are truly "ReBorn" while in fact the products are harmful to the environment and the business practices are actually contradicting the message that "Recycling is a Beautiful Thing". Here's the question: is recycling a beautiful thing for bottled water? The answer is yes and no. Yes, the theory in recycling is to create completely sustainable cycles. The answer is certainly yes for PR departments; consumers want to feel like they are helping the environment. The answer is also is no, plastic recycling is definitely not sustainable, and processes regarding oil extraction and pollution from litter or incineration are not helpful to the environment.

Soda Stream and Two Mega-Corporations

Soda Stream manufactures home carbonation systems, in other words, they let you make your favorite soft drink in your home. Naturally, Pepsi and Coke are doing their best to extinguish the idea of a cheaper, more convenient, more environmentally friendly alternative product on the market. According to reports, Soda Stream had to remove a commercial from the Super Bowl because of the complaints of Pepsi and Coke (whose delivery men are depicted in the commercial). 

Connecting the topic to bottled water; a large part of Soda Stream's marketing campaign is based on an environmentally friendly product. Soda is packaged in the same bottles as bottled water (and many other products), and people ask "why do you choose to single out bottled water, aren't these other products as bad for the environment?" (This is a common defense from bottled water companies in particular).There are a few reasons why bottled water is viewed differently from other products on the market that are also packaged in PET and other plastics.

UVM Ban

A short clip from NPR on the University of Vermont's new bottle ban. Original article here.

The Significance of January 1st

On January 1st, 2013 the town of Concord, Massachusetts became the first city (in the U.S.) to ban bottled water. The ban prohibits the sale of unflavored drinking water made from PET or PETE (polyethylene terephthalate) under the size of 1 liter. The Bottled Water Association (an association of bottled water companies) is reportedly taking signatures to try and combat the ban. Here is an article from Huffington Post and below is a clip from WCVB, a Boston-based news station.
 January 1st, 2013 also marks the date that the University of Vermont bans the sale of bottled water on campus. Universities seem to be setting the trend with bottle bans, at this point Concord is the only city to ban bottled water while multiple universities across the country have banned the bottle (includes Evergreen State College, and Seattle University). 

Bottled Water Paper

***UPDATE: This piece can be found at a new location: here.

If you are teetering on the edge of whether or not to give up your beloved bottled water hopefully this paper will change help you make your decision. 

A few excerpts from the paper:

The truth is that bottled water has become a necessity in the 21st century; it reflects the cultural love affair with disposability and the country’s reliance on oil.

 ...a 20 ounce reusable bottle could be refilled once a day for twelve years and nine months before the cost of tap water equals $1.79 and six years four months before the cost equals 89¢.

Bottled water companies market their bottles with green names like PlantBottle®, Eco-Fina Bottle™, and ReBorn™ Bottle...

If you are interested in exploring the impact of bottled water continue to follow Spring to the Tap, consider watching the documentary Tapped, or just start with The Story of Bottled Water. Also, feel free to leave a comment below.

'Plastic debris is being ingested by wildlife at an alarming rate'

A small look from national news at how plastics are damaging the marine environment.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Bottled Water News

Japan's Hottest Commodity: Water

Forests in north Japan are being purchased by foreigners for as low as 60¢ a square meter, and the land purchased includes the groundwater beneath it. According to the article from Bloomberg News, Japan ranks 10th in the world in water resources, and has less regulation on foreigners purchasing land. The majority of the land purchases come from China-based companies and investors, some of whom plan to tap into the groundwater and export bottled water back to China. The article from Bloomberg Bussinessweek can be found here.

Petitioners look to bring bottle ban to town election in Concord

Concord, Massachusetts will ban bottled water (containers less than 1 liter) on January 1st. The International Bottled Water Association, which is run by bottled water companies, is fighting back. They are launching a petition for a public vote in March. Town Clerk Anita Tekle weighed in on the situation:

"'...outsiders hired by large corporations were trying to interfere with our local decisions...'"

You can read more about the bottled water battle that is ensuing in Concord, article from Wicked Local Concord right here.