Tap Water safer and more environmentally friendly than bottled water: United States City Mayors>> Janat Hur

A number of high-profile American mayors have joined a campaign to curb the use of bottled water. They argue that bottled water wastes energy and resources through the production of plastic bottles and shipping. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said: "When I see people at the airport go over to a vending machine and waste their money buying bottled water at the vending when it's standing right next to a water faucet, you really have to wonder at the utter stupidity and the responsibility sometimes of American consumers." The campaign, organised by Corporate Accountability International, aims to promote tap water as safer and more environmentally friendly than bottled water. City administrations are asked to stop buying bottled water for its offices. Boston and Salt Lake City as well as a number of cities in California have signed on to the campaign, which was launched 10 October. In several other US cities, including Oakland, Portland, Austin, Chicago, Minneapolis and Chicago, the campaign’s organisers set up taste challenges to see whether consumers could tell the difference between bottled and tap water. Opponents of bottled water also point out that much of it originates from municipal water sources, just like tap water. Both Pepsi (Brand: Aquafina) and Coca Cola (Brand: Dasani) get their water from public sources. In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom has already banned the purchase of bottled water by his administration, while New York City launched a campaign promoting the benefit of tap water.