In Italy, where 40 gallons of bottled water are consumed per person per year, city officials are promoting "Aqua Veritas" (tap water or "the mayor's water") to quench a mighty thirst and stem the tide of plastic bottles, according to the New York Times. In so doing, Venetian officials say, they have "reduc[ed] the amount of plastic trash over all to 261 tons a month now from 288 tons a year ago."
Here in the U.S., which remains, the world's top consumer of bottled water--and where consumption has doubled in the last decade--we might want to take a page the Italian "libro." If we did so, we might keep the estimated 60 million plastic bottles out of landfills and incinerators that wind up there each day. If city water isn't available or to taste, there's always filtering...or taking water to work in a re-usable flask.
When we do use plastic, we need better options in the Alamo City to get it to the recycling bin. You can help by signing or spreading the word about this Sierra Club petition.
If you still drink the bottled variety, I'm like you and I'm gonna commit to change.
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As far as bottled water goes, I've been changing for three reasons: too much plastic in the landfills, the cost of buying bottled water, and the BPAs (bisphenol-A) and bacteria in my bottled water. In a pinch, I might buy a bottle a month, but I bought my own BPA-free bottles (at costco-very inexpensive) and usually just fill them myself at the tap.
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