City of Seattle Won't Buy Bottled Water

4 years ago Environment

In what is a great initiative from many points of view, the mayor of Seattle (Greg Nickels) has announced that the city will no longer be buying bottled water for events or water-cooler jugs for its workers.

water

While it will save only $58,000 a year, the beneficial impact on the environment will be much greater.

There are still a lot of arguments over whether tap water is as good as it's supposed to be or not. It's estimated that about a half of the people in the U.S. drink bottled water and the number is increasing. While tests have pointed out that most bottles are pure and quite good to drink, there were some which had chemicals and several unwanted substances in their composition.

"It is to really highlight the fact that Seattle has one of the best municipal water supplies in the country," said Marty McOmber, the mayor's spokesman. "When you look at the cost of bottled water, both in terms of financial costs and costs on the environment, it's a pretty clear choice that using city water is a much better choice."

Also, many brands come from a municipal supply, which means that you're spending more money per gallon than you would on gasoline for this thing which is virtually tap water, and which is pretty much free at the source. Another thing which concerns some people is the fact that bottlers don't have to let consumers know if their product becomes contaminated, but sometimes they pull their products from stores. Also, if left in a hot room or car, it can become contaminated with plastic, which could be very dangerous.

The water from Seattle comes from the rain and snowpack in the Cedar River and Tolt River watersheds, which are protected natural areas. Nickels signed an executive order stating that producing bottles for U.S. consumers required more than 17 million barrels of oil, not including the fuel required to transport the bottles, and just 10% of the bottles are recycled according to official figures. Still, city workers will be allowed to bring their own bottled water if they want to, and exceptions will be made in case of emergencies.

Info from Seattle Times

Written by Mihai Andrei of ZME Science. Check out his science blog.

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Written by: mareacaspica

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Comments

Old Comments

M Easwaran says

Aug 5th, 2009 at 12am
This should become a lesson for everyone in the developing countries which are competing with each other in constructing water bottling plants paving the way for death of the environment and economy of the country and making the rural folk poor.

Tim Dunn says

Dec 16th, 2008 at 12am
Tap water usually contains chlorine, which causes thousands of cases of cancer every year in the US. Doubt it? Google it, it's quite true. This is from conventional medical sources, not fringe / alternative science.

John B says

Apr 10th, 2008 at 12am
The consumption of bottled water today has become outrageous. We have commoditized the most abundant natural resource on earth and, according to researchers for the Food & Water Watch, pay as high as $8.26 per gallon for it. While it may appear that we are only paying for the brand name, we must also consider the costs companies incur to access the water, purify the water, manufacture the plastic container, and transport the product to retailers. Many of these activities are detrimental to the environment and could be avoided with increasing consumption of tap water. The bottled water initiative taken by the city of Seattle is an excellent way to reduce the consumption of oil, a nonrenewable resource, and a great way to implement the use of municipal water services that are both safe and convenient. It is a common misconception that bottled water is safer than tap water because of slogans and “guarantees” posted on their bottles. However, studies conducted by the Food & Water Watch have shown that tap water is actually safer than bottled water due to higher standards and more stringent regulations.

Livan says

Mar 25th, 2008 at 12am
GO TAP WATER! Despite how important environmentalism is, it can sometimes be a little less entertaining than a Coke commercial. Check out this video in which a pair of young magicians decide to show how amazing and entertaining tap water can be. We are against bottled water! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWO_5lKVBAA Please let us know what you think and help spread the world. -Livan `

Milander says

Mar 25th, 2008 at 12am
Well done Seattle, thank you for setting an example for others to follow. Seriously there is no need to buy bottled water and if you want carbonted water go buy a soda stream or other carbonating device. If you like the 'cleaner' taste of bottled water chill tap water, it'll taste just the same. I'd also suggest that people who refute the quality of tap water over bottled water take a blind taste test and find out for themselves that they cannot tell the diffence. Bottled water is one of the greatest money making marketing scams in history.

sandossu says

Mar 25th, 2008 at 12am
That's great for Seattle. Hopefully everyone will soon follow their way.