New Thing #91--Water, Water Everywhere (But Not Bottled!)

St. Louis has great-tasting water-it was actually voted the nation's best-tasting tap water by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in a 2007 competition.

Just in time for Earth Day, on Wednesday, a group of restaurants in the area pledged to serve tap water and stop selling bottled water. St. Louis City Hall will to follow their example; City employees will be encouraged to drink water from the tap, and the city will no longer supply bottled water for meetings.

I really don't use a lot of bottled water, and I'm a recycling Nazi when it comes to the empty bottles. I also usually refill my disposable bottles several times before I recycle them. However, I'm realizing that when I carry around bottled water I'm not setting a good example for other people, so today I took the Think Outside the Bottle Pledge.

The pledge was easy to complete...it took less than 5 minutes. I went to the store and bought a translucent blue water bottle that will fit in the cup holder of my car. It may take me a while to remember to carry it from the car into meetings and functions, but I'm going to try!

Think Outside the Bottle Pledge (www.thinkoutsidethebottle.org)

I pledge to Think Outside the Bottle, which means:

Opting for public tap water over bottled water; and

Supporting the efforts of local officials who prioritize strong public water systems over bottled water profits.

Signed by:
[Your name]

Because water is a human right and not a commodity to be bought and sold for profit;

Because bottled water corporations are changing the very way people think about water and undermining people's confidence in public water systems;

Because up to 40% of bottled water in the U.S. and Canada is sourced from municipal tap water;

Because some bottlers have run over communities' concerns and the environment when they extract water and build bottling plants to get local spring and ground water;

Because bottled water travels many miles from the source, results in the burning of massive amounts of fossil fuels, and contributes to the billions of plastic bottles ending up in our landfills;

Because worldwide there is a need for investments in public water systems to ensure equal access to water, a key ingredient for prosperity and health for all people; and

Because solutions to ensuring water as a fundamental human right require people acting together and standing up for public water systems.