Bottled Water
What is happening with bottled water campaigns... World Wide Water Common
U.S. Mayors Vote to End Taxpayer Spending on Bottled Water
MIAMI, FL – The U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a resolution today encouraging mayors to phase out city spending on bottled water and to promote the importance of municipal water. The resolution, authored by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and sponsored by mayors from 17 major cities, aims to redirect taxpayer dollars to other essential city services. Source
New Hampshire Win for Bottled Water Activists
A big win in New Hampshire. After years of court battles with local community activists, USA Springs has put its Nottingham land up for sale. Although the company was granted a license to extract 1.6
million litres a day out of the ground for bottling, the plant itself was never built due to firece resisatnce by the local community, and now the land has been put up for sale. This is a huge win for Denise
Hart and the wonderful activists with SOG, Save Our Groundwater.
King Co. WA council OK's bottled water limits
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE -- The King County Council has approved a measure to limit the purchase of single-serving bottled water by county agencies and offices.
Councilman Dow Constantine said Monday that producing a single one-liter plastic water bottle itself consumes three liters of water and producing the 31 million bottles of water Americans purchase annually requires 17 million gallons of oil.
He says Seattle's cities and water districts provide some of the best drinking water in the country.
London, Ont., city council votes to stop sales of bottled water in city offices
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 | 4:46 PM ET
CBC News
City council in London, Ont., has voted in principle to stop selling bottled water in city offices, cafeterias and parks in a bid to reduce waste.
"What council last night endorsed in principle ... is that we will no longer sell or make available bottled water at a number of city facilities and a number of city-owned concessions and vending machines in a phased-in timetable," said Jay Stanford, director of environmental programs and solid waste.
Want to go green? Ditch bottled water
FairfaxDigital
Larissa Dubecki
June 10, 2008
DID someone say fuel crisis? A naturally occurring substance until recently seen as a basic human right has been recalibrated as a luxury item. Ordinary people in slave to the good oil are forking out fistfuls of cash for their fix, while wilfully or guiltily ignoring the spectre of environmental catastrophe. Governments hover nervously on the brink of action while the Western world gets lost navigating the terrain of its collective navel.
Bottled Southwest Idaho spring water will return to the shelves
By Tim Woodward
Edition Date: 06/10/08
Bottled Southwest Idaho spring water is about to return to the shelves of local markets.
Rocks Water should make its debut this week at the Boise Co-op and at Paul's Markets on Lake Hazel Road in Boise and in Kuna and McCall. Other stores are expected to follow.
The water is bottled at Rocks Lodge, on Idaho 21 between Boise and Idaho City.
Council splashes out £42,000 on bottled water!
Hornsey & Crouch End Journal
11 June 2008
BOTTLED water has cost Haringey tax payers £42,000 in the last three years.
Labour-run Haringey Council was slammed by the Liberal Democrats for pouring money down the drain after it was forced to reveal the fees for its water coolers.
Councillor Ed Butcher, Lib-Dem environment spokesman, said: "I am appalled by the unnecessary impact to the environment.
Bottled water dropped
Published Date: 11 June 2008
By Jeni Harvey
SHEFFIELD Council has stopped using bottled water at meetings in favour of supplies from the tap in an attempt to be more environmentally friendly.
The changes, which will also see chilled tap water replacing water coolers in the future, should save the council around £3,500 a year.
Council leader Paul Scriven said: "I hope that Sheffield people will agree with me when I say that it's right for the council to lead by example on combating climate change. We are committed to tackling our carbon footprint, and protecting the environment.
"Using tap water instead of bottled water is the first in a long line of changes that we'll be introducing.
"It's only a relatively small step, but if enough people follow the example then it can have a big effect on our carbon footprint.
"I'd urge the Sheffield people to follow our example and do the same – kick the bottle."
Coun Scriven became leader of Sheffield Council after the Liberal Democrats took control of the authority following the May local elections.
Boston - Bottled Water Company Will Be on Hand to Pass out Water and Celebrate Festivities
Boston, MA, June 10, 2008 – Belmont Springs®, a DS Waters company, is pleased to announce that it is the official bottled water sponsor for the 26th annual Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl, which will be held June 10 – 12, 2008 at City Hall Plaza in Boston. The Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl, the biggest all-you-can-eat ice cream festival in the U.S., holds the annual event to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a cancer research and patient care center in Boston. Over the years, with the outpouring of community support and help from the nation's best ice cream companies, the Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl has raised more than $2 million.
"Jimmy Fund is an amazing charity, and the annual Scooper Bowl event is something Boston looks forward to every year," said Helen Chiasson, Area Manager for the New England Region for Belmont Springs®. "Our ability to participate is a tremendous honor, and we are very proud to be this year's bottled water sponsor."
Oregon - firefighters bottle water. Stores in the Illinois Valley area have received their first cases of Third
Alarm, a bottled water brand sponsored by the Illinois Valley Volunteer Firefighters Association to raise money for the fire department in the area, according to a June 5 article on http://www.ktvl.com/. The firefighters say they hope profits from the water will allow them to purchase fire and safety equipment. Volunteer firefighter Jeff Bradshaw developed the idea for Third Alarm in February. “Its slogan is, ‘Reach for us first, for that third-alarm thirst'," Bradshaw said in the article.
St. Louis - A St. Louis-based health care organization is turning to the tap, eliminating bottled water at its hospitals as part of an effort to be more environment-friendly.
The bottle ban begins Sunday at SSM Health Care's 20 hospitals in four states. Bottled water will be eliminated from vending machines, won't be sold in cafeterias, won't be brought in for meetings. Patients and guests can get water in cafeterias using recycled paper cups. Employees will be encouraged to use reusable bottles or cups.
China - Heckmann Corp., a blank-check company, said it will buy China Water and Drinks Inc., which distributes and bottles water in China, for $625 million in a cash and stock deal.
BPA - BPA has been linked to low sperm counts and an increased risk of breast and prostate cancer, scientists like vomSaal and Hunt suggest avoiding reusable bottles made from plastic. They also raise serious concerns about the potential for other plastic chemicals to leach out of typical PET water bottles—especially if they sit in the hot sun.
McCloud, CA, U.S. - One million square feet in McCloud, California—against community protests. The company has had to significantly increase the amount it’s paying for the water (from $26 an acre-foot to $183) and limit its draw to 520 million gallons annually. It’s still battling opposition from residents concerned about the mega-plant’s effects on quality of life and outdoor recreation.
It takes 15 million barrels of oil per year to make all of the plastic water bottles in America, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Sending those bottles by air and truck uses even more fossil fuel.
Latest on TurnToTap Turn to Tap's mission is to focus public and personal attention on the problems created by consumption of bottled water, and to present positive alternatives that enable positive change. As consumers and citizens, we need to understand and be responsible for the consequences of our choices. The more we know, the better our choices can be. All of us can make change for the better.
Brooklyn, NY, U.S. - Last night, Brooklyn’s Park Slope Food Co-op, the largest food co-op in the country with over 12,000 members, passed a resolution to discontinue the sale of bottled water. Despite Nestlé’s attempts to dissuade members against a favorable vote, over 150-200 members showed up at the meeting (unprecedented attendance) and only 1 or 2 voted against the measure. The initiative was put forward by a few members of the co-op who have been working the past few months to educate other members about the importance of the resolution. It is a great inspiration for other activists around the country to initiate a conversation with their local co-ops and restaurants about discontinuing the sale of bottled water
Johns Hopkins University, Gazette "Another simple change that will not in the least impact our daily lives is simply to stop buying drinking water in plastic bottles. First of all, there is no evidence that bottled water is safer or better for you than tap water. In fact, the converse may be true. Some bottled water lacks the fluoride that is added to drinking water to reduce cavities, so you and your children might find yourselves frequenting your dentist more often simply because you switched to Evian or an off brand from Pittsburgh. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to learn of bottlers taking tap water from Baltimore, giving it a fancy-sounding name and reselling it in Pittsburgh and vice versa. Moreover, if we don't depend on our local tap water, we might eventually lack the diligence to assure that our local supply is safe as well as plentiful." William R. Brody
LONDON (Reuters) - Bottles of water will no longer be served at government meetings under a "tap water only" policy announced on Thursday to protect the environment.
Bottling plants face opposition as fears grow over water supplies
Most families moved out after the lumber mill shut its doors in 2003, leaving this town of 1,300 in the mountains of far Northern California without the industry it had relied on since its founding more than a century ago.
Is Coke’s Dasani Full of Hot Air?Shareholders, Activists Challenge Coke’s “Green” Image
WILMINGTON, DE – While Coca-Cola executives plan to use today’s shareholders’ meeting as a forum to trumpet the corporation’s water stewardship credentials, many in attendance are asking whether Coke is full of hot air.
Key House panel approves groundwater bill
April 22, 2008
MONTPELIER, Vt.—A key House committee has unanimously approved a bill that would create a new permit system and legal requirements governing the taking of large amounts of groundwater.
Canada; SECTION: COLUMN; BOTTLED WATER: INDUSTRY GETTING FREE RIDE?
The Ontario government was draping itself in green on Earth Day for its decision to ban the sale and use of domestic pesticides but there's another, equally profound, environmental issue on which it is struggling to find its way.
The issue is bottled water and the government's willingness to grant permits to companies to withdraw millions of litres a day of groundwater. The McGuinty government has made progress on the issue but not enough to satisfy critics who think the bottled-water industry is getting a free ride.
The issue has heated up with a decision last week to grant the Swiss firm Nestlé a permit to extract up to 3.6 million litres of water a day near Guelph for the princely price of a $3,000 processing fee and - as of next Jan. 1 - an additional fee of $3.71 for every million litres it withdraws. That would be about $13.36 for a day's production that could sell for nearly $4-million.
To be sure, the Ministry of the Environment placed some restrictions on a permit that has existed since 1984. It gave Nestlé a two-year renewal, rather than the five-year term that it wanted. And it is requiring the company to do extensive monitoring to ensure its extractions are not harming the environment. But a local watchdog group, Wellington Water Watchers, charged that the government is ignoring the 8,176 people who formally expressed concernthat 3.6 million litres daily is a slurp too much.
"To us, it makes no sense to have a multinational company come in, take our water for free, put it in plastic bottles, which we have to dispose of, and sell it back to us for more than the price of gasoline," said group co-founder Marc Goldberg.
Environment Minister John Gerretsen shares the opinion although he doesn't use such stark language. He simply doesn't understand why people buy bottled water. "I would encourage everyone to drink water right out of your tap," he said. "That's what I try to do."
Sales of bottled water are declining after years of popularity but the demand isn't going to disappear and that will put pressure on the government to devise a tighter policy. In 2004, the bottled-water industry had 31 permits to extract about 20 million litres a day but that doesn't count the unknown litres drawn from municipal tap-water supplies by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo for its Dasani and Aquafina brands.
"Nobody knows how much water is actually being taken," said Tony Clarke, executive director of the Ottawa-based Polaris Institute and author of Inside the Bottle.
Mr. Gerretsen and Premier Dalton McGuinty both said yesterday that the current permit fees are too low but the government will need to deal with decisions that say governments can't charge more than their administrative costs. It will also have to resolve the question of whether water is a commodity or a product and whether it can deny it to some users, such as bottlers, but not to others, such as brewers. "The law is definitely murky," said Anastasia Lintner, co-ordinating lawyer at Ecojustice (formerly Sierra Legal).
Ministry officials say the $3.71 fee for a million litres may be inadequate but it's better than the giveaway that prevailed until 2004. (Better also than a Florida decision to charge Nestlé just $230 for a permit to pump water from a state park affected by drought.)
The government is hoping technical studies of Ontario watersheds due in 18 months will provide the basis for a science-based extraction policy. Ms. Lintner believes much higher fees, which would likely dampen sales, can be framed as necessary to protect a resource.
While all this is being sorted out, would you please recycle your empty plastic bottles? That would be a start on curbing an industry that needs to be curbed.
Nestle expects ``mid single-digit growth'' in bottled water revenue this year, Child-Villiers said. The U.S., French and Italian markets contributed to the first-quarter drop, he said.
``These figures reflect the tough comparison with an excellent first quarter in 2007, as well as softer market conditions in the developed world,'' Nestle said. Water sales rose 9.7 percent in the first quarter of last year.
Criticism that bottled water wastes energy and overtaxes landfills increased last year. San Francisco banned spending public funds on the product, while Chicago has imposed a 5 cent per bottle tax.
``The water market is soft and it would certainly be naive if we were to deny that there is any impact from this issue,'' Child-Villiers said. Nestle is running a communication campaign in the U.S. and is working with trade associations in Europe with rivals to combat the criticism, he said
OTTAWA—The Polaris Institute, the Sierra Youth Coalition, and the Canadian Federation of Students are uniting to launch a campaign to raise awareness about corporate control over public water systems.
Corporate Accountability International launched a new easy-to-use, downloadable organizing kit, so that people can get their cities, towns or counties, or even states to take action challenging the
bottled water trend.
LONDON (Reuters) - Bottles of water will no longer be served at government meetings under a "tap water only" policy announced on Thursday to protect the environment.
Nestle and Woolworths in water wars The local arm of Nestle has taken Woolworths to court over its decision to import San Pellegrino mineral water rather than buy it from the local licence holder which is Nestle.
Bottled Water Experiment Purpose of Experiment: To prove my make money with no money business ideas can work. Hypothesis: It is possible to take less than $10 in startup capital and make money.
Message in a Bottle: Despite the Hype, Bottled Water is Neither CLEANER nor GREENER Than Tap Water
Take the Pledge Break the bottled water habit. Join our campaign to take back the tap by pledging to reduce or eliminate your use of bottled water.
Anil Dash: In case you don’t know, bottled water is an incredible scam.
Recent bottled water related articles (As of March 10, 2008):
[UK] Departments Told To Use Tap Water March 6, 2008 BBC
[Canada] Nestlé Decision Expected Soon March 4, 2008 Guelph Mercury
[US] East Montpelier Passes Ban On Groundwater Withdrawal March 5, 2008 Associated Press Newswires
[US] Coke Touts Citizenship February 29, 2008 The Atlanta Journal - Constitution
[Thailand] Nestlé Vows To Lead Bottled-Water Market February 26, 2008 The Nation
[US] Pepsico Spent About $1 Million In 2007 To Lobby The Federal Government On Numerous Issues February 26, 2008 Associated Press Newswires
[US] Town, State Look At Groundwater Protection February 25, 2008 Associated Press Newswires
[UK] Water On Tap At Every Restaurant February 25, 2008 The Evening Standard
[UK] 'My Customers Say Bottle Ban Is Best Think I’ve Ever Done' February 25, 2008 The Evening Standard
[Australia] Message On A Bottle Labelled As Greenwash February 23, 2008 The Sydney Morning Herald
[US] Coca-Cola Spent More Than $1.7 Million In 2007 To Lobby The Fed. Gov't On Marketing, Nutrition February 21, 2008 Associated Press Newswires
[UK] Ken Says: Don’t Bottle It – Ask Waiter For Tap Water February 19, 2008 The Evening Standard
[India] Coke Gets CSR Award Amidst Protests February 19, 2008 Business Standard
[UK] The Source Of Civilisation: Britain's Cities Would Be Much Better Places Without The Ubiquitous Dummy Of Bottled Water February 19, 2008 The Guardian
[US] Albuquerque Mayor Bans City From Purchasing Bottled Water February 19, 2008 Associated Press Newswires
[UK] On Tap - And Back On The Menu February 19, 2008 The Daily Telegraph
[UK] London Mayor Urges Boycott On Bottled Water February 19, 2008 Reuters News
[UK] Bottled Water: Who Needs It? February 18, 2008 BBC, Panorama
[US] Controversy Flows Around Water-Buying Plan February 18, 2008 Worcester Telegram & Gazette
[Australia] Aquifer Trial Doesn't Hold Water February 13, 2008 Central Coast Express
[US] Bottled Water: A Murky Subject February 13, 2008 Marketwatch
[Qatar] Qatar Withdraws Some Bottled Water February 12, 2008 Gulf News
[India] Pepsico Plant: Ruling Upheld February 12, 2008 The Hindu
[UK] Restaurants Urged To Serve Free Tap Water February 11, 2008 The Guardian
[UK] It's Just Water, Right? Wrong. Bottled Water Is Set To Be The Latest Battleground In The Eco War February 10, 2008 The Observer
[US] Battle Begins Over Water Rights January 31, 2008 Worcester Telegram & Gazette
[Fiji] High Court Set To Rule In Fiji Water Case February 8, 2008 Fiji Times
[US] Lawmakers Seek Probe Into Bottled Water February 1, 2008 US Fed News
[US] Battle Begins Over Water Rights January 31, 2008 Worcester Telegram & Gazette
[US] Future Of Water Worries Sterling January 30, 2008 Worcester Telegram & Gazette
[India] Unauthorised Units Selling Packaged Water Thriving January 25, 2008 The Hindu
[Switzerland] Water Water Everywhere… January 24, 2008 Reuters News
[US] Bottled Water Tide Trickles Slower January 23, 2008 Shanghai Daily
[US] Pepsico Adds Dollars 8m Sparkle To Clean Water Drive January 22, 2008 Financial Times
[India] UK Environment Group Accuses Coke Of Depleting Water In Rajasthan January 21, 2008 Asian News International
Coca-Cola's Own Report Implicates Company for Abuses in India
FAX ACTION: Coca-Cola: CLOSE Bottling Plants in Kala Dera and Mehdiganj
Contributors to this Page
