Citing the 30 million water bottles that end up in landfills every day and the 1.5 million barrels of oil a year required to manufacture them, a member has introduced an initiative to ban the sale of bottled water at the Park Slope Food Co-op. There’s a theory floating around about this being a class issue (huh?), but basically it just boils down to being more environmentally responsible. If you’re a member of the Co-op, expect to vote your conscience this spring.

Meanwhile, Food & Water Watch is sponsoring an I Heart Tap Water Video Contest, encouraging college students to make short videos, post them on YouTube and submit the info to a panel of judges by April 14. (See a sample video here.) Top prize is $1,500, and the winning entry will be featured on Take Back the Tap; second is $500, and third’s a tote bag. If you’re out of school but would like to show your support, pledge to stop using bottled water, and ask Congress to protect our water supply.

Then again, who knows what kind of brain candy is lurking in your tap, so be sure to get a good filter.

3 Comments

1. 
   Comment by

   Ligo

   on March 11, 2008 at 5:57 pm #

   I personally hate plastic water bottles, since they can be so inconvenient at times. Sometimes when I go to Whole foods and feel obligated to buy one cause they’re only 59 cents, but they end up accumulating in my room, half empty.

   I bought a Swig aluminum water bottle and it’s so much better than having to buy flimsy plastic bottles every day with chemicals that strip off into the water. No, thanks. I just fill it up with water from the filter in my refrigerator, since the straight faucet water in the Bronx can be kinda gross.

2. 
   Comment by

   Jason Das

   on March 11, 2008 at 6:38 pm #

   I’m a long-time hater of many things, including bottled water. But even I buy it (very) occasionally when there’s no obvious place to fill up my reusable bottle. I would love to see more public water fountains! Having great tap water, as we do in NYC, is useless if I can’t tap it.

3. 
   Comment by

   ShannonAtZeer

   on March 18, 2008 at 3:28 pm #

   What are your feelings on workplaces offering biodegradable cups made from corn? My workplace in Boston just started using them. I still use my sports bottle for water here, but for guests, it seems like a good alternative. I need to get more information about it though.