Bill would tell state how much of its water goes to bottlers

Does the state have a right to know where its water is going?

Major multinational corporations such as Nestle are allowed to siphon it up for free—only to sell it back to Californians and others in energy-guzzling plastic bottles likely to end up in landfills or floating off our lovely coastlines. Profit margin: Up to 10,000 percent.

Bottled water is increasingly controversial for these reasons. And while you may not believe that the occasional Dasani or Aquafina is a Class A environmental felony, it would certainly make sense to have companies pay the state something for the millions of gallons of water they remove from the public’s groundwater supply.

A state bill sponsored by Felipe Fuentes (D-San Fernando) will soon get a floor vote to eliminate on part of the scandal: It would require water bottlers to report how much water they take from public aquifers. The governor vetoed the bill last year in a skirmish over the budget.

Also last summer, the City of Sacramento made a deal with Nestle that is stricter than most: It charges the company 65 centers per 100 cubic feet of water, instead of giving it up for free. But the city didn’t limit the Nestle’s total draw, even as local residents faced water restrictions. And the 65 cent price is 10 cents lower than the generic commercial rate, although Nestle will make a 10,000 percent profit on the water.

Fuentes’ bill wouldn’t undo sweetheart deals like this one, but it would force water bottlers like Nestle to report their water use to the state — which would empower officials to consider this significant source of commercial use in determining how best to handle California’s contentious water issues.

Ask your representatives to support the bill by signing this petition.

Bottled water sales were down in 2009 compared to the previous year. This is a big win for the Ban the Bottle Movement and a message to bottled water companies like Nestle, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Add it all up and you get bottled water sales that dropped in 2009 for the first time in five years. Yes, folks, bottled water is becoming the new cigarette.

We can trace this change of attitude to the Australian town of Bundanoon, a hamlet of about 2,500 south of Sydney. It seems the citizens there became angry a few years back when, according to published accounts, a beverage company announced plans to build a water extraction plant in town.

Residents faced the prospect of an outsider taking their water, sending it off to the big city for processing and then selling it back to them. The town became so incensed it voted to ban the end product.

About the same time, according to anti-bottle activists, “one of the dumbest moves in advertising history” occurred when high-end brand Fiji started a campaign intended to tout its water which is imported from the tropics.

The advertising copy read: “The label says Fiji because it’s not bottled in Cleveland.”

Well, the people of Cleveland, the victims of many slings and arrows over the years, did not take kindly to the campaign. So Cleveland Public Utilities director Julius Ciaccia had the local water tested against the bottled stuff. Fiji water had 6.31 micrograms of arsenic per liter; the city tap had zero. The company disputed the findings, but change was in the air.

The cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Salt Lake City have asked employees not to use bottled water or banned city spending on it. Chicago added a 5-cent tax to each bottle.

Bottled water sales are drying up [via Pasadena Star-News]

We bash plastic bottles and the bottled water industry quite a bit here on BTB, but let’s not forget that plastic bags are just as wasteful and unneeded. California legislators seem to think so as well.

Last Friday,the California Assembly Appropriations Committee passed AB 1998 and will be voted on this Friday by the full Assembly.

If passed, the law would go into effect Jan. 1, 2012. Gov. Schwarzenegger has shown support for the move.

San Francisco made history when it became the first city to officially ban plastic shopping bags in 2007, making it a pioneer of the outlawing of common to-go plastic products.

Other cities in the Bay Area, including Oakland and Palo Alto, shortly followed suit.

However, if passed, AB 1998 would be the first statewide ban in history. Supporters say the bill would support the state’s efforts in reducing its waste.

“This legislation starts breaking our addiction to single-use plastic packaging, which has gotten completely out of control,” Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay, told the Los Angeles Times.

[Read the full story on Tonic]

Members from the Ban the Bottle crew had the opportunity to visit the 2010 Green California Summit and Expo this week in Sacramento. The annual Green California Summit has become an essential resource to support efforts to meet the challenges of managing energy and water resources, and to create clean and sustainable communities throughout the state of California.

The event featured a large expo with a ton of innovative green products to peruse. I’ve compiled a list my top 4 innovative  green products from the Green California Summit.

Swann Electric Bikes

Swann Electric Bikes produces the BionX kit which provides bikes an “electric assist”. This means the rider still has to actually peddle to trigger the electric-assist. Settings range from a 25 per cent boost to 300 per cent, depending on the battery and motor size. A throttle on the handlebar offers an override function, allowing the bicycle to operate in 100-per-cent electric mode temporarily, but generally the idea around this kind of e-bike is that the rider still gets the exercise but without the bursts of effort needed to tackle uneven terrain and forces of nature.

HydrationStation Water Dispenser

Forget single-use bottled water and start using a sustainable water dispenser to fill up your sports bottle and meet the needs for hydration.  The Hydration Station water dispenser features a touch-free, hygienic interface with built-in filter technology to make tap water taste great.  The HydrationStation can save your company thousands of dollars on bottled water costs while creating a more eco-friendly work environment. (more…)

Petrolia, California, a city near Ontario, is considering banning the sale of all plastic water bottles.  This move is aimed at curbing the effects of plasitc water bottle waste.  However, the mayor of the city is questioning the usefulness of such a ban:

McCharles concedes plastic water bottles are an environmental hazard if they aren’t disposed of properly. But he questions whether an outright ban is the answer.

“There’s definitely an environmental problem with plastic bottles, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But if people were more conscious about recycling them, they wouldn’t be such a problem.”

Only 30% of all plastic water bottles are recycled.  That means millions of wasted bottles end up in landfills each year.  We encourage the citizens of Petrolia to write their mayor and voice their support of banning the bottle as well as recycling as there are benefits to doing both.