Take Action

The nanny state has reached new levels of absurdity as activist-campaigns increasingly succeed in denying consumers the option to choose bottled water without being hit with taxes and regulations.  Chicago has placed a tax on bottled water and other cities are banning it in government buildings and at public events.  Bottled water has become a particularly hot environmental issue on campuses this year.  On some campuses, school officials and student organizations simply attempt to discourage consumption of bottled water by employing peer pressure and misinformation. At others, they are actually banning (or considering banning) bottled water from vending machines, cafeterias, and campus stores.

While this might sound like a minor issue, it is truly much larger and more important than you might expect. Consumers in general and students on campuses need to speak out because if nanny-state greens can actually ban water, what freedom will they assault next?

The anti-bottled water campaign is spearheaded by a group called Stop Corporate Abuse, which has initiated its “Think Outside the Bottle” campaign. The campaign calls on individuals to make a pledge opposing  private water and promoting government water(1).  Specifically, the pledge calls for: “Opting for public tap water over bottled water; and Supporting the efforts of local officials who prioritize strong public water systems over bottled water profits.” Hence, their real qualm is not so much with environmental impacts of bottled water, it’s with free-enterprise. They want people not only to choose “public” (government) water over private water, they want people to take action to prevent others from drinking private water. The anti-free enterprise “Think Outside the Bottle” campaign is succeeding  on many campuses and in many communties. See their map of campus activity and the map on local regulations.  They apparently believe that water is something too precious to be left to the private sector, a sentiment that underlies the entire battle against bottled water. Ironically, if we held this view for food, we’d all be waiting in line for bread as people once did in the Soviet Union!

Advocates of freedom can also organize in communities and on college campuses, pledging to support consumer choice.  The following action items below can help safeguard our freedoms:

Sign the EnjoybottledWater.org  Petition: If this is all you have time to do (and it only takes a couple seconds) you will have contributed in an important way. CEI’s petition lets policymakers, school officials, and environmentalists know that not everyone supports the anti-bottled water nanny state.

Reach out: Forward the link to the EnjoyBottledWater.org petition in emails to friends, family, and others who cherish their freedom.

Organize a Local or Campus Petition: Get others in your community or on Campus to sign a petition opposing specific Nanny State controls on bottled water in your community or on your campus and then send it to officials involved in making decisions that affect your choice.

Link to Us: If you have a blog or other website, please write about and link to EnjoyBottledWater.org, and let us know by email alogomasini@ cei.org. We can post links to our allies on EnjoyBottledWater.org as well.

Share your Knowlege: Take a look at CEI’s policy study on the topic and use the information when discussing this issue with others: friends, family, people you meet at the health club, and others. Tell local retailers (convenience stores, restaurant owners, health club owners, etc.) in person, in letters, or via a petition that you appreciate it when they offer the option to choose bottled water.

Speak out: Use CEI’s research when attending meetings at the local level or on campuses and in letters to public officials.

Write to your Newspaper: Send letters to the editor to your local newspaper or school newspaper opposing nanny state regulations on bottled water.

Write Op-eds and Editorials: Use the information on EnjoyBottledWater.org to write a guest editorial for a local or regional newspaper or an editorial/article for a college newspaper to get the facts out about this issue and help others speak out as well.

Protest: Organize a student/community protest to express dismay with attempts to deny freedom of choice.

Note: (1) While much tap water in rural areas is privately provided, most large water systems are government-owned. Environmentalists oppose privatization of water systems and they have advanced policies that undermine water provision in rural areas because they oppose economic development in those areas. See: Angela Logomasini, “Rural Water,” in The Environmental Source, (Washington, D.C.: Competitive Enterprise Institute, 2008).