Crazy Bans

In June 2007, San Francisco captured national news attention when it barred city agencies from buying bottled water packaged in single serving sizes and water in large containers used in water coolers. That same month, Salt Lake City also banned city purchases of bottled water, even denying it to  firefighters. When firefighters raised concerns, Salt Lake City’s then-Mayor Rocky Anderson explained that each firefighter would get a refillable container. Two additional personnel would be dispatched to each fire to refill on the scene, which one would think might cost taxpayers more than a few bottles of water. In this case, firefighters would have to queue up for a drink when their bottle gets low.

In July 2007, the Ann Arbor, Mich., City Council passed a resolution barring city vendors from selling commercially bottled water at city events. The city said it would sell reusable water bottles that can be filled with tap water. Also that summer, New York City launched a tax-funded “advertising” campaign to encourage people to drink tap water rather than bottled water.

The issue has continued into 2008. In February, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez banned city agencies from purchasing bottled water. Suffolk County, N.Y. followed suit in March by prohibiting county departments from buying workers bottled water in single-serving bottles, and Takoma Park Md., did the same in April 2008. In June, the National Conference of Mayors issued its 2008 resolution calling on more cities to stop buying bottled water.

Also this year, school districts in Canada announced they are considering removing bottled water from school vending machines. This move could lead students to choose less healthy options if they don’t want to carry bottled water to school or drink from unappetizing water fountains. Critics have also raised concerns about quality of the school’s tap water.

Washington State is looking into a statewide anti-bottled water law. The proposed law would ban the sale of petroleum-based water bottles as well as prohibit state agencies from buying such products. The bill reads that the state would not allow bottles “made from a petroleum-based plastic not intended by the manufacturer to be a reusable container that is one liter in size or smaller and is marketed to contain nonflavored, uncarbonated drinking water.” It would exclude bottles made from corn or “other biological materials.” To top the insanity off, the bill imposes fines for the sale of petroleum-based bottles at $250 per day!

Lawmakers in Pittsburgh said they wanted to ban government purchases of bottled water per the U.S. Conference of Mayors resolution. However, old pipes in the city’s office building produce rusty, orange water. According to news reports, the mayor indicated he wanted to be green, and bottled water was their best alternative. Apparently, not all tap water meets the same quality standards of bottled water, despite claims to the contrary.

In addition, a number of private establishments have decided that they would no longer market or serve bottled water. A number of restaurants in San Francisco, followed by others in big cities, decided to take bottled water off their menus. But not all of these restaurants are willing to serve just plain old tap water. Instead, they will offer filtered tap water.

If governments want to stop paying for bottled water and restaurants choose not to provide it, that certainly is their right. It might save governments some money, and that is okay. But those moves simply do not warrant the media attention they receive, and they are unlikely to matter much for the environment. However, as the information on this website shows, provisions that prevent workers from bringing bottled water to work undermine consumer freedom and accomplish very little, and could be detrimental.