New York City is on a tear to be as green as possible. Hybrid taxis, energy efficient building codes, congestion pricing and the entire PlaNYC platform has New Yorkers talking. The latest campaign is to get rid of bottled water. Although they are 'convenient,' those bottles are made of plastic which comes from oil. Fifty million barrels of oil are used to make the nation's plastic water bottles every year and it takes many, many more to ship them to their destination.
Meanwhile, using tap water is ridiculously more efficient and the quality is just as good. Especially in the city, our water quality is one of the best in the country. The campaign to get people to switch the way they drink water is under way and progress is already starting to show.
From AM New York:
With a series of ads in subways and businesses, the city is promoting its own "delicious," "fat-free," and "refreshing" tap water as a better alternative to plastic bottles that are used once and thrown away.
In doing so, New York joins a growing movement away from bottled water. Some restaurants in California have stopped offering it, and in September, Mario Batali's Del Posto on 10th Avenue will become among the first to do so here.
"We don't look at it as losing money, we look at is as investing in the world," said Del Posto co-owner Joe Bastianich, who said the restaurant will make and sell its own mineral water on site using tap water.
That is damn good investment. It is great to see businesses realize that by not profiting on bottled water, they are doing so much to save our planet. One restaurant changing its practices won't solve the problem of climate change, but collective action will. This is one step of many that we need to take in order to help reduce our carbon impact.
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