Bottled Water and Serendipity

I have been concerned for some time about Council's use of bottled water at Council meetings when we had perfectly good drinking water on-tap. We should be celebrating the fact that we have quality drinking water available on tap, when over one billion men, women, and children (more than fifty times the population of the Australia) do not have safe water to drink and therefore cannot live a healthy life (World Health Organisation).

I was thinking about how best to write a Notice of Motion for Council to remove bottled water from Council meetings and other functions, when an e-mail from the Earth Policy Institute popped up and made it easy for me. Not only did it provide much of the information I needed, it also alerted me to a similar motion that will be considered by the City of Manly (NSW) Council on 10 December.

I will be moving the following motion at the Council Meeting of 18 December 2007.

That the Town of Vincent:
(a) in line with the recent decisions by many US cities, the New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change, the City of Manly (NSW) and the NSW Local Government Association, ceases to purchase single-serve bottles of water on environmental grounds; and
(b) investigates the feasibility of
(i) installing more public drinking fountains in town centres, parks and recreation reserves and other public places; and
(ii) following the example of the City of Cologne (Germany) in providing temporary water stations at Town of Vincent-supported outdoor functions (such as the Hyde Park Fair, Leederville Street Festival and Concerts in the Park)
with a report to be considered by Council in February 2008.

Bottled water

According to the Earth Policy Institute, each plastic bottle used for water requires the equivalent of nearly one-tenth of a litre of crude oil. In addition, pumping, processing, transportation and refrigeration require up to a further 0.2 litre. That's nearly one-third of a litre of oil in total in every bottle of water.

To put this in perspective, a litre of crude oil produces just under half a litre of petrol. A typical Town of Vincent Council meeting (with nine elected members and four Executive staff) uses 1.5 litres of petrol to provide drinking water that could come straight out of the tap at less than 1% of the financial cost.

Over a full year (say, 22 Ordinary meetings, 11 briefings, 6 Special Meetings), that’s 60 litres of petrol (125 litres of crude oil).

Temporary water stations

The importance of regular water intake in hot weather (as well as at other times) is a common health message. Many of the Town-supported outdoor functions are in the hot Summer months.

When I was in Cologne in June this year, those who attended a week-long festival in the central city were provided with opportunities to obtain drinking water, where there would have been no justification for permanent facilities.

These could also be used to provide water for dogs brought to the function.