Plastic Bottle Bans Pick Up Steam
Latest Science and Social Rumblings Spell Very Bad News For Bottling Companies
On the heels of a recent NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) report stating that less than 13% of plastic water bottles are being recycled and that the quality of tap water in the US and Canada is at least as safe as what comes out of a “far-from-carbon-neutral” plastic bottle, efforts to curtail or outright eliminate bottled water and sodas are gathering steam.
In Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino has pledged to "Think Outside the Bottle," and will curtail and eliminate the use of bottled water whenever possible in city procurement. Joining with him are a growing number of cities and towns across the continent and a rapidly expanding number of private restaurants.
“This is one of the fastest moving environmental causes that we have seen in a long time,” said Wayne King, publisher of the blog Greener Minds. “It promises to sweep across the globe and those bottlers who are caught sucking their thumbs instead of acting are going to be in deep trouble.”
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King said that in the US and Canada alone this represents a multi-billion dollar industry. “Either these companies are going to innovate and get on board the greenstream or others are going to come up with alternatives that suck their profits dry. It represents an amazing opportunity for eco-entrepreneurs and a huge challenge for both the bottlers and the folks who make the product inside the bottles – who ought to be just as worried about this.”
King predicts the next wave of bans will be on college campuses where students will drive the changes. “A whole lot of colleges and universities have very lucrative “pouring rights” contracts with major soft drink manufacturers and bottlers. This will represent a substantial income stream for many big educational institutions and therefore a huge challenge for these institutions. But if the bottlers think that the big bucks are likely to buy them the support of the administrations, they should remember what happened on campuses when the anti-apartheid divestment movement took root.”
Recent News on this Topic
Restaurants Move Toward Bottled Water Ban
Turning off the tap for bottled water
Plastic bottles are made of fossil fuels and chemicals, refined and manufactured by big oil companies, the institute goes on to say.
NY county mulls bottled water ban
One supporter, Neal Lewis, of the Long Island Neighborhood Networks, noted that the manufacture of plastic bottles consumes more than 17 million barrels of oil annually.
Despite the Hype, Bottled Water is Neither Cleaner nor Greener than Tap Water
by Brian Howard
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