Thursday, February 11, 2010

Anti-bottled water movement



I just returned from a trip to New York City. In many many restaurants and all over our hotel were signs encouraging people not to purchase or drink bottled water.



They are having a major issue with trash disposal, and in an effort to limit waste, they encourage people to consume a bit more wisely. One funny example were napkins in a dispenser that said: use your sleeves and save some trees.

I was surprised at how crisp the tap water was in New York, and how even in upscale restaurants, they did not offer mineral or sparkling water. On almost every table, there were beautiful glass bottles, all shapes and sizes, with plain old tap water. Some tables had stickers stating that they proudly served NYC water.

At ue, we have stopped using bottled water about 3 years ago. We used to set them out for corporate meetings and even though we encouraged people to refill them, we saw that once emptied, they drank in glasses. (So we are using water and energy cleaning those on top of the waste of the plastic bottle that was just used...)

How long will it be for Ottawa to catch on?
Some restaurants are still selling them, some even bottle and label their own. I have to admit that I am quite skeptical about that - what is wrong with our tap water? Why are we paying to bottle and market it? Imagine all the plastic that we could save if strictly serving tap water in restaurants...

-marysol

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