U.S. Mayors Vote to Rethink Bottled Water Contracts [View All]

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Corporate Accountability International

A conference of U.S. mayors -- with support from restaurants, businesses, and public interest groups -- passed a resolution Monday to phase out municipal use of bottled water in favor of tap water.

• The resolution was passed after a study conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that bottled water is being sold for 4000 times the cost of tap water delivery systems even though up to 40 percent of bottled water comes from the same source.

• More and more consumers are turning away from bottled water because of economic and environmental concerns, choosing instead to use reusable bottles and faucet water filters. Meanwhile, producers like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestle are seeking to address consumer concerns by using less plastic in their bottles.

• Several school districts in Canada are also moving to ban or have already banned the sale of bottled water in public schools due to its environmental impact. "It's ridiculous we sell bottled water in our schools when we have water fountains," said one Vancouver school board trustee.

June 23, 2008 - 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.

"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," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. "Our public water systems are among the best in the world and demand significant and ongoing investment."

The vote comes on the heels of actions by more than 60 mayors nationwide, such as cancelling bottled water contracts, to address the budgetary, environmental and social impact of such purchases (visit www.ThinkOutsideTheBottle.org for a map of city actions and facts on bottled water impacts). The cities of San Jose, Miami and Orlando announced bottled water phase-outs in the days leading up to the vote.

OneWorld