June 26, 2007
San Francisco Mayor Bans Bottled Water at City Agencies
SAN FRANCISCO, California, June 26, 2007 (ENS) - Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco Monday issued an order to permanently phase out the purchase of bottled water by the City and County of San Francisco.
Beginning July 1, there will be a ban on any city department or agency purchasing single serving bottles of water using city funds, unless an employee contract specifies usage. This prohibition will apply to city contractors and city funded and/or sponsored events. There will be no waivers from this prohibition, the mayor said.
By September 30, all city departments and agencies occupying either city or rental properties will have completed an audit to determine the viability of switching from bottled water dispensers to bottle-less water dispensers that utilize Hetch Hetchy supplied water.
City departments will work with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Department of Real Estate and the City Purchaser to conduct the audit.
By December 1, 2007 all city departments and agencies occupying either city or rental properties will have installed bottle-less water dispensers that utilize Hetch Hetchy supplied water. Waivers will only be granted by the Public Utilities Commission based on legitimate engineering, health and fiscal concerns, the mayor ordered.
Mayor Newsom said the environmental impact of the bottled water industry has been "profound."
He cited figures from the Container Recycling Institute, supplying the plastic water bottles that American consumers purchase in one year requires more than 47 million gallons of oil, the equivalent of one billion pounds of carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere.
More than one billion plastic water bottles end up in California’s landfills each year, taking 1,000 years to biodegrade and leaking toxic additives such as phthalates into the groundwater, Newsom said.
Water diverted from local aquifers for the bottled water industry can strain surrounding ecosystems, he said, adding that "transporting bottled water by boat, truck and train involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels."
"All of this waste and pollution is generated by a product that by objective standards is often inferior to the quality of San Francisco’s pristine tap water," the mayor said.
The International Bottled Water Association IBAW, was critical of the move, saying that the Mayor's comments and actions only encourage an unnecessary and confusing "bottled water versus tap water" debate.
Plastic beverage bottles are among the most recycled packaging in this country and beverage companies continue to reduce the amount of plastic used in their packaging, said the Association, adding that "Rather than focusing on one beverage choice, it would make more sense for our government officials to focus on improving recycling rates for all consumer packaging."
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2007/2007-06-26-09.asp