In yet another move to outlaw single use plastic and other unnecessary packaging, San Francisco has banned the sale or distribution of “packaged” water on city property, including sealed boxes, bags, cans and other containers with a capacity of one litre or less. The city is already well equipped for water access, but is installing more public access water fountains and campaigning to encourage people to shift back to habits that were common before everyone was convinced by bottlers that that tap water was unhealthy.Lauren DeRuha Florez, campaign director said the city prioritises access to clean water:
“THE CITY IS REINFORCING WATER AS A PUBLIC GOOD RATHER THAN A COMMODITY THAT CAN BE BOUGHT AND SOLD BY CORPORATIONS.”San Francisco is one of the most progressive cities in the world, moving from project to project, systematically eliminating unnecessary packaging, with the goal of having no landfill by 2020. They have already legislated to ban single use food plastic containers that can't be recycled or composted.
You have to wonder if he fully realised what the was saying when American Beverage Association, which includes Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo, Chief responded with:
“THE BAN IS NOTHING MORE THAN A SOLUTION IN SEARCH OF A PROBLEM. THIS IS A MISGUIDED ATTEMPT BY CITY SUPERVISORS TO DECREASE WASTE IN A CITY OF AVID RECYCLERS.”
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, who authored AB 1080, pretty much sums up everyone else's view:
“WE HAVE TO STOP TREATING OUR OCEANS AND PLANET LIKE A DUMPSTER. ANY FIFTH-GRADER CAN TELL YOU THAT OUR ADDICTION TO SINGLE-USE PLASTICS IS KILLING OUR ECOSYSTEMS.”
In 2009, the citizens of the New South Wales town of Bundanoon, in a move to ward off bottlers taking water from their aquifer, voted 355 to one to become the first town in the world to outlaw bottled water. Bubblers were installed throughout the town and laws were passed prohibiting the selling or dispensing of bottled water within the town precinct.
By all reports, despite extensive spin campaigning from bottlers about the health risks of drinking actual water, in the last 10 years, no one in Bundanoon has died or been hospitalised from drinking water from bubblers. This is despite the Australasian Bottled Water Institute at the time saying:
''IT MIGHT HAVE A SHORT-TERM EFFECT BUT IN THE LONG RUN AUSTRALIANS ARE LOOKING FOR THE HEALTHY OPTION AND HAVING BOTTLED WATER AVAILABLE PROVIDES THEM WITH THAT.'' Righto. Hang on. What really is in bottled water?
Commonly recyclable plastic materials: polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). PET is commonly used for plastic bottles that contain water or soda, while HDPE is used in milk jugs, shampoo bottles, household cleaning bottles and in some trash bags and cereal liners.
The most common plastics that can't be recycled are polystyrene (PSE / EPS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polypropylene (PP5). PSE is commonly used in Meat Trays, Clam Shell Take Away Containers, Broccoli Boxes. PVC can be Vinyl, Credit Cards, Clear Cordial and Juice Bottles. There are two different kinds of PVC 3 plastic: Unplasticised Polyvinyl Chloride (UPVC) and Plasticised Polyvinyl Chloride (PPVC). The main difference between these two plastics is that UPVC is a hard plastic whereas PPVC is a flexible plastic. PP5 can be Bottle Caps, Baby Bottles, Straws and Clear Take-Away Containers.