|
HEALTH CARE FOOD AND ACTIVITY ENVIRONMENTS ENACT STRATEGY: Water Provide water to drink; have clean sources of tap water and/or working water fountains As concern for the environment and human health grows, workplaces, local government, and other institutions are discouraging the use and sale of bottled water. Healthcare institutions can serve as a model for other institutions and agencies by ensuring that clean sources of tap water are available for patients, staff, and visitors Bottled water carries a high environmental cost including increased air pollution from transportation and toxic emissions from plastic production. Plastic water bottles are also one of the fastest growing sources of municipal waste; only 23% of bottles are recycled, most end up in a landfill. Municipal tap water in the United States is more tightly regulated than bottled water, and is delivered through an energy-efficient infrastructure.
A fact sheet from Salt Lake City’s Mayor’s Office on the economic and environmental costs of bottled water. More details on the costs and impact of bottled water by the Responsible Purchasing Network. Community Organizing Package: Ideas and Tools for a Campaign Challenging the Bottled Water Industry This community organizing kit can be used to build a campaign to challenge the bottled water industry. The kit includes ideas and tools for encouraging organizations and businesses to ban bottled water and creating a campaign to convince your local government to stop purchasing and distributing bottled water. The site also offers language for a sample bottled water ban. Responsible Purchasing Guide: Bottled Water This guide, produced by the Responsible Purchasing Network, provides information on the impacts of bottled water and the responsible strategies that institutions have used in their bottled water purchasing decisions.
This article by Earth Policy Institute follows the momentum against bottled water from San Francisco to Paris. The Institute also provides a comprehensive list of bottled water bans and back to tap initiatives in governments, workplaces, schools, and restaurants in the U.S. and abroad. The Think Outside the Bottle Campaign is “the collective effort of major national organizations, cities, prominent people, communities of faith, student groups, and concerned consumers across North America.” Think Outside the Bottle encourages consumers to choose tap over bottled water and support the efforts of local elected officials to do the same at the city, state, and national level.
Responsible Purchasing Network “The Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN) is a national network of procurement-related professionals dedicated to socially responsible and environmentally sustainable purchasing.”
A report by Food and Water Watch outlines the public health and environmental problems with bottled water. |
Provide Ample Tap Water at Your Health Care Facility