New York bans large soft-drinks, but Concord knows where the true evil hides...In a new step toward understanding water , its availability, and its overall commoditization the town of Concord, Massachusetts made a legal move banning water...in the bottle.The precedent setting case came after a three-year campaign, called Ban the Bottle, comprising of local activists wanting to reduce fossil fuel use and waste. One activist, Jean Hill told the New York times in a 2010 interview, "The bottled water companies are draining our aquifers and selling it back to us." She declared, “I’m going to work until I drop on this."She sounds like the kind of activist that gets things done.Ban the Bottles website list facts making citizens aware of the magnitude of waste and fossil fuel needed to make plastic bottles. Their site states "It takes 17 million barrels of oil per year to make all the plastic water bottles used in the U.S. alone. That's enough oil to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year." Their website also states: "In 2007, Americans consumed over 50 billion single serve bottles of water. With a recycling rate of only 23%, over 38 billion bottles end up in landfills."The law is very specific in its target. the bylaw states,"It shall be unlawful to sell non-sparkling, unflavored drinking water in single-serving polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles of 1 liter (34 ounces) or less in the Town of Concord on or after January 1, 2013." There is an exemption for an "emergency adversely affecting the availability and/or quality of drinking water to Concord residents."So if the public water supply dries up in the event of a natural disaster then bottled water comes to the rescue.The town itself is not unified in this decision. The campaigning voice of a select group has caused a blanket effect over the entire populace. Sadly, despite the great waste, the single-serving bottles of water accounted for a great amount of revenue among the local convenience stores and vending machines. Other issues brought up by those unhappy with the law emphasis that towns are near enough together that anyone can go to a neighboring town and purchase what they want. As well stores are still able to offer large plastic bottles of water.In all of the three year campaigning, legislative time spent on drafting a law, and further time spent checking and enforcing the laws (first offense is a warning, second offense is a $25 fine, any further offenses), no one in Concord appears to have thought of the next step.The law itself focuses on a problem. In this regard it is easy to attack an evil. Why has no one considered the reason behind the flagrant rise in plastic bottles? Where is the alternative solution?The city of Concord should consider the cultural shift that has taken place over the last 20 years. What at one time was a voiced disclaimer of "who would ever pay for water in a bottle?", has grown to a community unwilling to trust tap water and further unable to gain access to public water due to the disappearance of water fountains. The main reason bottled water increased in popularity. Many times I have been to a city park where the water fountains sat broken and a hot dog vendor sold bottles of water. You can not take away what appears to be a need without offering a solution.I guess it really is easier to destroy than it is to create. Website for : Ban the Bottle
↧