Bottled water receives collective ‘no’ from U.S. mayors
June 23, 2008 at 3:54 pm by Thomas Wheatley in NewsA resolution that encouraged municipalities to start loving the tap and phase out spending city dollars on bottled water passed today at the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors convention in Miami.
“Cities are sending the wrong message about the quality of public water when we spend taxpayer dollars on water in disposable containers from a private corporation,” San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said in a release. “Our public water systems are among the best in the world and demand significant and ongoing investment.”
Mayor Shirley Franklin attended this weekend’s conference but was not present for today’s vote. A spokesperson says she left early to Savannah for the Georgia Municipal Association’s annual convention. A spokesperson says Franklin helped clarify language in the resolution that wouldn’t prohibit bottled water outright, but use municipal water when it was most feasible. The legislation was sponsored by mayors from 17 U.S. cities including Seattle, Chicago and New York City.
(You didn’t think the city that was bailed out by the world’s favorite sugared-water manufacturer in 1934 would snub its nose at said bottler, did you?)
According to Corporate Accountability International, a big-business watchdog group who applauded the resolution, cities spend an estimated $70 million each year on disposing of plastic bottles. The group says cities such as San Francisco spend more than $500,000 on annual contracts for bottled water.
“It’s just plain common sense for cities to stop padding the bottled water industry’s bottom line at taxpayer expense,” said Gigi Kellett of the group and national director of its Think Outside the Bottle campaign. “This resolution will send the strong message that opting for tap over bottled water is what’s best for our environment, our pocketbooks and our long-term, equitable access to our most essential resource.”
The clarifying language makes clear that municipalities may need to turn to bottled water in the case of emergencies. To view the resolution, click here.
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