Australia’s Mater Hospital will get rid of plastic water bottles this month and hopes other private hospitals will follow suit.

Patients at the hospital are usually given at least”two plastic water bottles every day, but will now have to make do with jugs of “good, old-fashioned tap water”, the hospital’s environmental stewardship manager Kylee Carpenter told Australia’s Daily News.

The ban will result in a saving of about 230,000 bottles a year.

She said while the focus was to make the hospital more environmentally friendly, the ban would also “obviously result in huge financial savings”.

Should all hospitals ban bottled water?

She said tap water was about 2000 times cheaper than bottled water, but just as good.

“There are no safety concerns related to serving tap water to patients,” she said.

Bottled water will still be available for sale in the hospital cafeteria.

Ms Carpenter said while “nine out of 10” public hospitals served tap water only because of the huge expense of bottled water, The Mater would become one of “very, very few” private Sydney hospitals to make the move away from bottles.

She said they were in the process of getting jugs and glasses for the hospitals, and hoped plastic water bottles would be off the menu by the end of this month.

[via Mosman Daily]

Readers Digest recently published several interesting articles on the bottled water industry. While nothing they reported was surprising, we are continually intrigued but the ongoing attempts from bottled water manufacturers to manipulate and mislead consumers. Here is a recap of Reader’s Digest “6 Types of Bottled Water You are Drinking”.

1. These bottled waters actually come from the tap…same thing you have access to everyday but don’t have to pay $1.50 for. Between 25 -45% of the bottled water sold in the US originated as tap water.

• Alaska Premium Glacier (you mean they aren’t chipping off chunks of a glacier into my bottle?)
• Aquafina
• Dasani
• Glaceau Smartwater (Does Jennifer Aniston know about this?)
• Nestle Pure Life
• Yosemite

2.  These bottled waters aren’t as where they say they are. Arctic springs in California? Everest in Texas? I think not….

• Arctic Clear — source: Tennessee
• Arctic Falls Bottled — source: New Jersey
• Arctic Springs — source: California
• Glacier Mountain Natural Spring — source: New Jersey
• Glacier Mountain Bottled — source: Ohio
• Everest — source: Texas

3. Water is pretty amazing, but these bottled waters have taken it to another level.

• H2Om: ” While you drink in the delicious spring water, you are living in the ‘now,’ and you are naturally in a grateful state of being.”  They offer 7 “flavors” – Gratitude, Joy, Love, Peace, Prosperity, Will Power and Perfect Health. (Wow – who is grateful that they have to pay $1.87 for Will Power Water?)
• Holy Drinking: “If you are a sinner or evil in nature, this product may cause burning, intense heat, sweating, skin irritations, rashes, itchiness, vomiting, bloodshot and watery eyes, pale skin color, and oral irritations.” (I thought this was a joke until I saw their site. They are serious – Holy Drinking Water).

Our friends at the International Bottled Water Association recently released their 2010 bottled water sales report, showing a 3.5% increase in overall bottled water consumption. Although there was a slight increase, efforts to curb the use and sale of bottled water continue to increase as more consumers become aware of the costs, environmental impacts, and health dangers associated with bottled water.

The report noted: new BMC data, released in the May 2011 issue of Bottled Water Reporter magazine, shows the overall consumption of bottled water has increased by 3.5% after slight losses in 2008 and 2009 due to poor economic conditions. It also shows the bottled water category’s overall share of the liquid refreshment beverages marketplace grew slightly to 30%, up from approximately 29.2% in 2009.

In 2010, total bottled water consumption increased to 8.75bn gallons, up from 8.45bn gallons in 2009. Per-​capita consumption is up 2.6% in 2010, with every person in America drinking an average of 28.3 gallons of bottled water last year.

Overall, in 2010, the entire US refreshment beverage category grew by 1.2%, after two years of a recession-​based downturn. Currently, carbonated soft drinks command a 23% market share, down slightly from 2009, while bottled water’s market share grew to 15% as consumer interest in healthy, calorie-​free beverages increased while recessionary impacts on them decreased.

Source: FoodBev.com

The city of Aspen is preparing to spend about $20,000 on reusable water bottles and another $9,400 on filling stations in an effort to promote the drinking of municipal tap water over the plastic-bottled variety.

City of Aspen environmental health staff will make a presentation at tonight’s Aspen City Council meeting updating their efforts in the “Aspen Tap” campaign, to which council gave the green light in March.

The city is planning to order 4,000 stainless steel water bottles at a cost of around $5 each. After giving away about 1,000, the city plans to sell the bottles at the Saturday Market for between $5 and $6, according to a city memo, and at local stores for around $10.

“Local retailers have expressed concern that by selling bottles for $5, or a similarly low price, the city will undercut local businesses’ sales efforts and will make local prices appear inflated,” says a memo from city environmental health specialist Ashley Cantrell.

The city expects to make about $15,000 back on its investment in the water bottles.

The city also plans to roll out specially-designed filling stations that would be strategically placed around town, where locals and tourists can fill up their water bottles. One such station would be placed near the restrooms at Wager Park; another at Conner Park, which is next to City Hall and the Saturday Market; and another station would replace existing drinking fountains at Rio Grande Park.

The filling stations would be equipped with consumption-monitoring meters to help city officials gauge the success of the program. The city also plans to ask local grocery stores for data on the amount of bottled water sold, and keep track of those estimates to see if they decrease with the new program.

The city takes its water from snowmelt-fed Maroon and Castle creeks, giving Aspenites one of the purest high-mountain water supplies anywhere.

The city also plans to “continue working with local grocery stores to develop a bottle and messaging campaign that could be available in the bottled water aisle at local stores.” The city hopes to one day have reusable bottles for sale in the grocery store in the bottled water aisle, alongside an Aspen tap filling station.

Aspen City Councilman Torre encouraged the city to get in the game of cutting back on bottled water after a January trip to the Caribbean left the councilman shocked at the amount of discarded plastic water bottles that were floating in the otherwise pristine blue waters. He initially encouraged city staff to research an outright bottled water ban.

The city, through its ZGreen events program, encourages events to cut back or eliminate bottled water. The city also is looking to eliminate bottled water from government meetings and conferences.

The city is eyeing more bottled water filling stations at the Aspen Recreation Center, the base of Smuggler Mountain Road, gondola plaza and the municipal golf course.

Source: Aspen Daily News

May 1- 7 is National Drinking Water Week

Did you know?

- In the United States, water utilities treat nearly 34 billion gallons of water      every day

-  In the United States and Canada, the total miles of water pipeline and aqueducts equal approximately one million miles; enough to circle the globe 40 times

- Americans drink more than one billion glasses of tap water per day

- Children in the first six months of life consume seven times as much water per pound as the average American adult

Drink Tap!

Ban the Bottle congratulates the Concordia University administration for taking this important step towards a more sustainable and just campus. A special applause goes to the students who organized the successful TAPthirst campaign that was instrumental in this incredible outcome.

By phasing out the sale of bottled water from vending machines on the Loyola and Sir George Williams campuses and by committing to upgrade drinking fountains to accommodate reusable drink containers, Concordia University is making a serious commitment to responsible environmental practices.

Concordia is the 13th Canadian university, and 4th so far this year, to take this significant action to curb the sale of bottled water in campus buildings. Bottled water free campuses are important for fostering support and confidence in publicly delivered tap water. If young people develop the habit of refilling water bottles for free instead of paying inflated prices for privatized bottled water, Canada’s important public water systems will benefit.

Concordia University’s announcement shows that the campaign to curb the sale of bottled water in Canada’s institutions of higher learning is gaining momentum in the face of unprecedented pressure from the bottled water industry to block and overturn these initiatives.

Congratulations and cheers to the tap!

Source Polaris Institute

Here at Ban the Bottle we focus all our energy on eliminating bottled water and increasing tap water usage. But when you live in North America you can easily forget that many people around the globe don’t even have the option of bottled water or tap water – banning the bottle is the least of their worries.

While we are fortunate enough to have access to clean water every day, there is an big demand for clean water, sanitation and hygiene in communities around the world. More than 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water. There are many people that spend up to 60% of their day walking to collect water – that’s astounding.

As I’m sure most of you are aware, yesterday was World Water Day. We strongly believe in the continuing message that World Water Day presents and have found a group that we would like to ask you to support – H2O for Life.

H2O for Life partners with schools, youth groups, businesses, faith organizations, clubs and individuals with schools in developing nations in need of water, sanitation and hygiene education.  There are several things you can do to help the clean water crisis  and one option (that ties in with our motto) is to purchase a H2O for Life reusable bottle! For only $10 you can purchase a bottle to add to your cabinet of reusable bottles or give as a gift. All proceeds help the cause and in turn you will be supporting two movements with one purchase when you buy your own reusable H2O water bottle here.

Today, people across the United States and Canada are choosing to give up bottled water and drink tap water when available. People are taking a stand in support of public water and against the privatization of our water resources. It is time to unite and ban bottled water.

Join the Canadian Federation of Students, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Sierra Youth Coalition, Development & Peace, the Polaris Institute, and Ban the Bottle in the countdown to Canada�s second Bottled Water Free Day! On March 10 2011, communities across Canada and the world will be mobilizing to take action to ban the bottle and reclaim public water.

History of the Event

Bottled Water Free Day originated in Canada and was organized in March 2010 by the Canadian Federation of Students, Sierra Youth Coalition and the Polaris Institute, as a response to a growing movement of back-to-the-tap practitioners across Canada.

The first ever Bottled Water Free Day was a huge success drawing thousands of Canadians from coast to coast to participate in events that highlighted the negative impacts of bottled water. In the end more than 60 universities and campuses organized events, there were over 60 media stories covering the day, and nearly 4000 Canadians signed a personal pledge to not drink bottled water.

The movement continues to gain momentum as countries around the world are joining organizers in Canada for Bottled Water Free Day in the fight to end the corporate control of water!

What You Can Do

Whether you can contribute 5 minutes or a lifetime in the fight against the privatisation of our public water resources, there are tools for you to take action. Take a look through the website to find out about the issues and get the tools you need to take action.

Talk about it!

Talk to your friends, parent, community members, and classmates about the problems associated with bottled water. In order to win this fight we need to get people talking and build support for our cause. It’s as easy as turning to the person next to you in a class and asking them if they know about the environmental impact of bottled water. So learn the facts and get out there!