Bottled water banned in Australian town
An Australian town has banned bottled water, claiming to be the first in the country to revert to the tap for the sake of the environment and prompting the nation's largest state government to stop buying bottled water.
Residents of rural Bundanoon, a picturesque, tourist destination 150 kms southwest of Sydney, voted overwhelmingly to rid the town of bottled water to combat the carbon footprint from bottling and transporting it.
Local businesses in the town of 2,500 people have agreed to replace all single-use bottles with reuseable bottles that can be filled from water fountains and to bear the loss of sales.
"Bottled water has a role to play in various parts of Australia and many parts of the world but we don't really need it as we have a wonderful municipal water supply," local businessman Huw Kingston, who led the campaign, told Reuters.
"We're not a bunch of raving greenies but this is us showing we can work together as a community for sustainability."
Kingston, who runs a combined cafe and bike shop, said the ban was voluntary, with "no water police in Bundanoon", so it was up to the town's 50 to 60 businesses to implement the change.
He said a catalyst for the campaign was an application by Sydney company Norlex Holdings Pty Ltd to build a local water extraction plant, raising people's awareness of the issue. The application was rejected but an appeal is before the courts.
The campaign has spread beyond Bundanoon, prompting the government of New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state, to also look at ways to cut down on bottled water.
Organisations like conservation group WWF have campaigned against bottled water, saying resources are wasted in bottling and transporting water which may be no safer or healthier than tap water while selling for up to a thousand times the price.
INDUSTRY SAYS TAKES AWAY CONSUMER CHOICE
NSW Premier Nathan Rees this week announced an immediate ban on state departments and agencies buying bottled water.
"Tap water isn't just better for the environment, it's better for your wallet - you can refill your drink bottle 1,350 times for the average cost of a bottle of spring water," Rees said.
Australians spent about US$395 million on bottled water in 2008, a 10 percent increase on 2007.
Environmental group Do Something!, which helped drive a ban on plastic bags in Coles Bay in the state of Tasmania, welcomed the NSW government and Bundanoon bans.
"We are very much hoping that this move will get Australians to rethink the half billion dollars a year that they spend on bottled water," said Do Something! chairman Jon Dee.
But Geoff Parker, director of the Australasian Bottled Water Institute Inc, set up 10 years ago to represent the industry, said the bans were disappointing as they stopped consumer choice and were detrimental to local bottlers and distributors.
"Bottled water does not replace tap water but it does compete with other beverages in the shop fridge or vending machine and the decision to remove quite possibly the healthiest option in this selection does not embrace common sense," he told Reuters.
"The environmental footprint of one bottle of water of locally produced water would be much smaller than a tin of canned tomatoes imported from overseas, some imported cheese, or French champagne. We need to keep it in perspective."
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Mario Desira
Jul 9th 2009, 16:56
Years back in 1996 I was fed up with drinking diluted bleach because that is what tap water taste and smelt like, so I bought a protable distiller and started distilling my water. Slightly expensive but not expensive as medical bills for years of slow water poisioning. Some say distilled water is not healthy, in which case pretend I am dead and you are not reading this.
Worldwide fresh water is contaminated by industrial waste, sewage and a hundred other sources of pollution. It is no different here,if no worse due to our small size.
My recomendation: buy bottled water rarely when really needed, otherwise install a purification system for your home taps and use well (cistern) water for cleaning purposes and watering plants.
Marisa Attard
Jul 9th 2009, 15:56
I would like to switch to tap water but our water supply tastes strongly of chlorine. It even smells strongly. However I use well water to drink and cook. I use a UV lamp and filter. And yes I do miss the days when as a little girl all I had to do was turn the tap, fill up a glass and drink.
Antonia Farrugia
Jul 9th 2009, 13:17
I used to spend a fortune on bottled water. I put an end to it four months ago by using a simple filter that sticks directly to the tap at a very low cost. I have already got back my investment and more and feel good into the bargain because I am contributing less to plastic pollution.
Berys Said
Jul 9th 2009, 11:55
We all seriously need to look at the origin of the products we buy.
The other day I wanted to buy some Maltese sea salt but couldn't find any so I bought some Sicilian salt instead. When I got home and read the label, I realised that it had been imported from Sicily...via Australia! there are quite a few products on sale in Malta that arrive to us via the same route, including chocolate.
On the subject of water.........do I really need to buy bottled water that has travelled all the way from Scotland or Norway???
Do we really need such a diverse choice in bottled water? Maybe there should be world-wide law that says you can only buy bottled water that is imported from no further than say 500 miles.
Paul Barrett
Jul 9th 2009, 11:41
Will Malta follow suit?
Getting rid of bottled water would be a vast step forward in environmental care - much greater than the retrograde step of cutting back on plastic bags which were heavily re-used to contain domestic rubbish and thus reduce smells and restrict a free for all from the fly population.
Financially it really does not make sense to purchase bottled water, carry it home and use it instead of tap water for tea/coffee with the leftovers placed in glass jugs to cool at a fraction of the price of bottled water.
c vidal
Jul 9th 2009, 11:35
Besides environmental issues one has to look also at the health hazards associated with the use of plastics especially connected with food and bottled drinks. Unfortunately the various companies producing bottled drinks switched to plastic bottles (other than using glass) because it is more convenient and cheaper for them to do so. This was backed up by the world's and European governments that eventually care less about health issues but only look on the economic impact. Also the general public was misled and made to believe that bottled water is healthier and better than drinking water directly from the tap. In reality scientific evidence shows a number of risks associated with the use of plastic bottles (even baby bottles) due to leaching of various toxic chemicals in water (mainly bisphenol A).