New York To Stop Buying Bottled Water For State Agencies.

I found this at The Good Human

May 11th, 2009 • david •

Hurray! Another state will stop with the bottled water nonsense! San Francisco banned the use of city money to buy single-serving plastic bottles of water back in 2007, and now New York is following suit. Governor David Patterson signed an Executive Order that will phase out the purchase and use of bottled water at state agency facilities. This is amazing news, and one that I hope will encourage other states and state agencies to ban the purchase of water in plastic bottles with state monies. From Water & Wastewater:

The Executive Order will phase out the expenditure of state funds for the purchase of single serve bottles and larger, cooler-sized bottles for water consumed at agency facilities. The measure requires each executive agency to develop and implement a plan to phase out expenditures for bottled water and provide alternative water sources such as ordinary tap water fountains and dispensers.

“Taxpayers have spent billions of dollars to ensure that we have clean drinking water supplies,” said Paterson. “If we are going to make such significant investments, we should reap the benefits and use that water. Our efforts will serve as an example for local governments, businesses, and residents to follow.”

I couldn’t agree more with Paterson’s statement, and hope it will truly have an impact on others to follow his (and Mayor Newsom’s) lead on this. I have written many times before about why we should not be buying bottled water, but just as a reminder, here are a few reasons…

• By drinking tap water, you can avoid the fertilizer, pharmaceuticals, disinfectants, and other chemicals that studies have found in bottled water.
• On a weekly basis, 37,800 18-wheelers are driving around the country delivering water.
• It can take nearly 7 times the amount of water in the bottle to actually make the bottle itself. Buy a reusable bottle that lasts for a very long time instead
• Tap water costs about $0.002 per gallon compared to the $0.89 to $8.26 per gallon charge for bottled water. If the water we use at home cost what even cheap bottled water costs, our monthly water bills would run $9,000.

Kudos to Governor Patterson for signing this order!

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I know ya’ll are sick of me haranguing you about not using disposable water bottles ever again. If you can’t find a “green” alternative, I personally love my Kleen Kanteen. I’m going on 2 years now with it.

Another product I really enjoy every day is my non-plastic travel mug from High Wave.  Made with pottery and stainless steel, it is beautiful and the lid is silicone.  That means no smell or taste of old coffee after the first few uses. Plastic seals always taste bad. And the best thing is really keeps coffee or tea hot, real hot!  And the 12.00 price tag makes it real sweet.

I do not like to expose my food to any plastic at all, or use disposables, so sandwich bags are out.  These container from Sigg are great for lunches. I found them at Reusablebags.com.