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!

Change.org has set-up a petition requesting that the House of Reps eliminate bottled water and switch to reusable bottles. The petition was spurred by a letter from George S. Hawkins, general manager of the area water utility DC Water. He offered to supply each member of congress with his/her own reusable bottle for free. Sign the petition here today and read the letter below or here. Good looking out, George!

We recently became aware of Jack Johnson’s social action network called All At Once. It’s basically a forum for green groups and people to  collaborate with other groups and people. But the part we love the most is their tag line “An individual action, multiplied by millions, creates global change.” So true! As we always say – every little bit helps.

Visit TapIt - Street Talk to  see real people and what they are doing every day to help eliminate bottled water and help our world.

As 2010 comes to an end, many people take on the notoriously unsuccessful act of making resolutions for the coming year. Everyone is guilty of making lofty resolutions that don’t come to fruition and then when the next New Year comes around…. they choose the same resolution that they didn’t complete from the year before.

An extremely common resolution is choosing to be healthier – whether it be losing weight, eating better, drinking less alcoholic beverages, joining a gym or just going to the gym more. It’s easy to forget these attempts at being healthier as the year progresses and you quickly go back into your old routine. So instead of forcing yourself to stick to a strict celery-eating-stair-master-for-45 minutes-a-day diet (that you know won’t last after the first pizza commercial you see), tackle a resolution that will  not only benefit you but those around you  - BAN PLASTIC BOTTLES FROM YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE!

Eliminating plastic bottles from your day is actually a lot easier than you would imagine – it is a simple mind-flip. Change the way you think, change your routine and sooner than later using multi-use bottles will be second nature. My mother always said that it takes 2-weeks to change your routine completely, so starting January 1 stop using plastic water bottles with these easy tips and tricks and by Jan 15 you will be bottled water free!

1. Buy 3 – 4 multi-use bottles: Buying just one is never enough. It gets left in the car, in the dishwasher or at a work. If you have several bottles stocked up you won’t resort back to using single-use bottles.

2. Buy a bottle that you don’t mind carrying with you: If you are a woman buy a bottle that can fit in your purse, if you are a man (and chose to not wear a purse) grab one of those handy collapsible bottles that can fit in your pocket. The bottle doesn’t need to big, just big enough to give you a good gulp of water.

3. Fill up your reusable bottle at home: The tap is the easiest and quickest way to water. Grab yourself a Brita pitcher or faucet mounted filter and you have yummy, filtered water available at your finger tips at all times. No need to purchase a case of bottled water when you have a great mechanism that provides you with water without the plastic bottle waste. (Plus Brita recycles their filters so you can feel good about not wasting those either!)

4. When out and about, fill up your reusable water at drinking fountains or hydration stations: Everywhere you go there are drinking fountains and hydration stations are rapidly gaining momentum. It’s actually required that buildings provide access to clean water. Sometimes they aren’t right in front of your face (like the $1.95 bottle of water) but tap into your other resolution of working out more and walk to the free water source.

By eliminating bottled water from your day you are not only encouraging yourself to be take healthy steps but you are helping reduce the millions and millions of bottles that are consumed each year and end up in landfills. Start with these 4 tips and you will soon be helping to the Ban the Bottle in 2011!

A dance theatre group in Salt Lake has taken a different approach to raising awareness about exorbitant bottled water costs.  The Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) is kicking off their 45th season by dedicating their performance to sustainability with each dance piece focusing on water in some form or another.  The group recognizes that bottled water is outrageously expensive. Comparing bottled water costs to current gas prices shows just that - a gallon of bottled water could be at least $10 compared to the $3 we pay for a gallon of gasoline.  Read below about more details on the actual dance production:

“H2O is a sensuous journey inspired by the rhythm of the tides and the precarious ribbon of life in the desert. Whether in lakes, rivers, oceans or swimming pools, water is the earth’s most precious and vital resource. RDT and Brolly Arts join forces to honor the beauty, the power and the sacred nature of life’s most important element. Whether it rages or seeps, evaporates or gathers, water is the source of inspiration for the choreography, exhibits and performance art. Two atoms of hydrogen joined to one of oxygen, nothing could be simpler or more important to our existence. How we use or reuse water will define the future of our planet.

The performance features Zvi Gotheiner’s GLACIER, a contemporary water ritual that imagines a future civilization coping with shrinking resources. WATERMARK by RDT alumnus, Ford Evans, with original score by composer Ricklen Nobis examines the mysteries and the movement of water, the most conspicuous, the most powerful and the most essential element sustaining life in the desert.

WATER STUDY created in 1928 by Doris Humphrey, one of the founders of modern dance, who experimented with natural rhythms, motor, pulse and breath building rhythmic phrases from the natural ebb and balance of the tides. The piece will be performed by members of Children’s Dance Theatre.

Lastly don’t miss the return of Francie Lloyd’s THE LADY OF THE LAKE, the magical and mysterious supernatural Celtic goddess of water who will leave you breathless.”

Learn more here – RDT

I am actually ashamed to admit this, I haven’t thought about or said the word thermos in years! Immediately saying the word takes me right back to the good ol’ days of elementary school when my mom would give me a thermos full of juice in my lunch box…not a bottle of water. And then when the juice was gone, I would fill it up with (gasp) water from the drinking fountain …you know that drinking fountain that is full of free water! When did that stop for everyone?

Thermoses are amazing and have been around for years but for some reason (massive amounts of advertising from the bottled water industry) they have been put on the back burner. Until now, Thermos has  created a super practical iPhone App that will guide users to drinking fountains!  How awesome is that? The FREE Oasis Places app will guide users to the closest drinking fountain and allow them to rank and post photos. It’s like Yelp for drinking fountains. Just one more way to further remove bottled water from everyday life. I love that this app tackles two major points – bringing your own multi-use bottle and bringing back the tap.

Rick Dias, President at Thermos said “Thermos has been making products that help people lead healthier lifestyles for over a century….we want to make it easier than ever to enjoy a refreshing and healthy drink of cold water.” Awesome job!

Ready more here and visit Thermos to start filling up those reusable bottles…just like the good ol’ days.

For a few months, National Geographic has dedicated a section on their website to Fresh Water topics – including the implications of bottled water. They recently added an interview with Peter Gleick, author of Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water. The points he makes are not altogether new but the facts are and it is definitely an interesting, quick read from an expert on bottled water waste.  He suggests that there are four reasons that bottled water grew in popularity:

1. Convenience
2. Disappearance of Drinking Fountains
3. Fear of Tap Water
4. Aggressive Marketing of Bottled Water and Against Tap Water

Read More: National Geographic: The Business of Bottled Water

Also, check out the National Geographic Fresh Water Section