“Buying bottled water is more expensive than buying gas,” says Commissioner Barbara Willer of the Multnomah County Board in Oregon.
Willer joined the other commissioners in a unanimous decision to ban the purchase of bottled water with county funds, making Multnomah County the first county in Oregon to do so. Going forward, the county will serve water from the tap at county functions and promote the use of reusable metal water bottles.
This is all around great news. Not only is it a win for water conservation and the environment, it will save the county some $20,000-$30,000 a year.
One of my all-time favorite organizations, Food & Water Watch, is also participating in Change.org’s Blog Action Day. Today Rich Bindell tells more about the Multnomah resolution in the context of other bottled water battles across the nation. A spate of recent struggles and victories demonstrates that communities across the country are waking up to the enormous boondoggle that bottled water represents. Multnomah joined Food & Water Watch’s national campaign to Take Back the Tap.
