Thread: San Francisco bans bottled water for city staff

San Francisco bans bottled water for city staff
Mon Jun 25, 3:08 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Thirsty San Francisco city workers will no longer have bottled water to drink under an order by Mayor Gavin Newsom, who says it costs too much, worsens pollution and is no better than tap water.

Newsom's executive order bars city departments, agencies and contractors from using city funds to serve water in plastic bottles and in larger dispensers when tap water is available. "In San Francisco, for the price of one 1 gallon (3.8 litres) of bottled water, local residents can purchase 1,000 gallons (38,000 litres) of tap water," according to the mayor's order.

Newsom estimates San Francisco could save $500,000 (250,196 pounds) a year under his directive, which also addresses environmental concerns over the amount of oil used to make and transport plastic water bottles. "All of this waste and pollution is generated by a product that by objective standards is often inferior to the quality of San Francisco's pristine tap water," according to the order.

The ban on the ubiquitous plastic bottles follows a prohibition in March by city officials on plastic shopping bags in large supermarkets because recycling efforts had largely failed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070625/...Bh7eDGdHqs0NUE

I beg to differ. Tap water is just nasty. Blech

I have yet to find a city water that I like lol But says the city WON'T pay for their bottled water doesn't say they can't buy their own (unless I misread it), I have to agree with him on that one.

But should taxpayers be paying for city employees to drink bottled water ? Unless they are working out in the heat ( landscaping and street crews ) - they should bring their own water to work. Even the people that work outside could drink out of the big water coolers ( that is what they do here ) which can be filled from the tap ....

Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

But should taxpayers be paying for city employees to drink bottled water ? Unless they are working out in the heat ( landscaping and street crews ) - they should bring their own water to work. Even the people that work outside could drink out of the big water coolers ( that is what they do here ) which can be filled from the tap ....

and what about the ones that don't drink the bottled water, should the city buy their lunch instead? lol

Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

But should taxpayers be paying for city employees to drink bottled water ? Unless they are working out in the heat ( landscaping and street crews ) - they should bring their own water to work. Even the people that work outside could drink out of the big water coolers ( that is what they do here ) which can be filled from the tap ....

I have to agree with this. The city should NOT pay for bottled water for it's employees.