LONDONERS URGED TO DRINK TAP WATER; Bottled water bad for the earth
February 21, 2008
THERE is no more shame in asking for tap water at a fancy restaurant.
In London, at least.
London mayor Ken Livingstone has asked Londoners to boycott bottled water in favour of cheaper, better-tasting and more environmentally-friendly tap water, reported Reuters.
Bottled water served with meals in London not only costs 500 times more than tap water, it is 300 times more damaging to the environment, he claimed.
Launching his London on Tap blitz yesterday, Mr Livingstone urged Londoners not to be embarrassed in asking for tap.
He said using fewer bottles would help climate change, adding that bottled water left a higher carbon footprint, with some imported brands travelling from as far as New Zealand.
'There is no need to buy the expensive bottled water that has become a bit of a fad in recent years,' he said.
MAY ELECTIONS
His announcement, the latest in a line of green initiatives unveiled in the runup to May elections, was backed by green and consumer groups.
Figures show the bottled water industry, with six million litres drunk every day, is worth about £1.7 billion ($4.7 billion) annually in Britain and accounts for almost one in five UK soft drinks sales.
'There is no health advantage in drinking bottled water instead of water from the tap,' said the chairwoman of the Consumer Council for Water, Ms Yve Buckland.
According to Thames Water, London's water supplier, 70 per cent of people say the price of mineral water in restaurants is too expensive but one in five people are 'slightly nervous' or 'too scared to ask' for tap water, reported the BBC.
In a statement, the British Bottled Water Producers rejected suggestions that bottled water was bad for the environment.
It pointed out that about three-quarters of all bottles sold in the country are manufactured locally and plastic is used for safety and hygienic reasons.
'For people concerned with helping the environment ... buying British-sourced bottled water is a sound and logical choice,' a spokesman said.
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