Janet CollinsPower at the Grass Roots
July 8th 2009 08:57
In the southern highlands town of Bundanoon in New South Wales, a town that claims a population of 2,500, the people of the town have planned a meeting for tonight and organisers are confident of a good turn out. It’s about bottled water and some are hoping to run the product out of town.
It all started when local businessman, Huw Kingston, heard that a company, Norlex Holdings, wanted to build a water extraction plant in the town to pump water out of the local acquifyer to supply the bottled water market. So incensed was he that he wrote an article in his local newsletter “Does Bundanoon have the bottle to go bottled water free?”
The proposal by Norlex Holdings was declined but they have now appealed to the NSW Land and Environment Court.
Now Kingston not only has support of the wider community, but he has won the support of local businesses as well, many of whom stand to lose in terms of sales of bottled water – some many thousands.Tonight he hopes to make it official and if he succeeds, there’s no telling how far and wide the idea will spread.
It’s not that the idea has had little debate. It has long caused concern among environmentalists and the community at large. In a study by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change it was reported bottled water had caused the release of 60,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas in 2006 and sales are on the increase.
Continuing debate over the bottled water issue has forced many towns around Australia to discourage the use of bottled water, even if one is refilled over and over rather than replacing it with a new one. The meeting in Bundanoon tonight is the first real known proposal to ban the product entirely.
Kingston and his supporters are proposing a pretty simple idea. It is for businesses to replace plastic bottles of water with reusable ones and then offer directions to the filtered water fountains they are proposing to be installed on the main street in the town.
The issue is certainly topical. It featured on the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald this morning and was one of the most popular stories on ABC’s online news site, generating 133 comments before the comments section closed this afternoon. That alone is bound to aid the cause.
If things go to the organisers plans, tonight’s meeting may just push Bundanoon to a pretty relevant place on the Australian map.
Should we ban bottled water?
Sourced: The Sydney Morning Herald; www.abc.net.au
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by Janet Collins
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That is part of the problem but it is a lot more complex. In Bundanoon, the water would be pumped out and shipped to Sydney, bottled and then trucked back to Bundanoon - and everywhere else.
The disposal of them is a big issue. Many of the bottles end up in landfill but the making of these bottles also causes big environment issues.
These bottles are convenient and on a health issue, people often buy them as opposed to a soft drink. The water is there though and that is the point.
Apart from environmental concerns, why should companies be able to pump out OUR water and sell it back to us? It just doesn't make sense all round.
Comment by hazius
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If your family is like many in the United States, unloading the week’s groceries includes hauling a case or two of bottled water into your home. On your way to a soccer game or activity, it’s easy to grab a cold one right out of the fridge, right?
But all those plastic bottles use a lot of fossil fuels and pollute the environment. In fact, Americans buy more bottled water than any other nation in the world, adding 29 billion water bottles a year to the problem. In order to make all these bottles, manufactueres use 17 million barrels of crude oil. That’s enough oil to keep a million cars going for twelve months.
Imagine a water bottle filled a quarter of the way up with oil. That’s about how much oil was needed to produce the bottle.
So why don’t more people drink water straight from the kitchen faucet? Some people drink bottled water because they think it is better for them than water out of the tap, but that’s not true. In the United States, local governments make sure water from the faucet is safe. There is also growing concern that chemicals in the bottles themselves may leach into the water.
People love the convenience of bottled water. But maybe if they realized the problems it causes, they would try drinking from a glass at home or carrying water in a refillable steel container instead of plastic.
Unbelievable eh! A quarter of the bottle in oil to make the bottle!
Good on you Bundanoon and Huw Kingston. I'm sure 'necessity' will eventually force unthinking people to see the sense, but hopefully you will bring it about a lot faster.
Every country town and city should follow your example.
Keep us informed and the best of luck!
Comment by hazius
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Brilliant story - the state govt is following suit and banning buying bottled water.
A top story all round - people win - big business lose.
Suffer in their jocks is all I can say.
Comment by Janet Collins
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Your quote was a very interesting one and yes they voted. I have posted again on the result. It is of course a voluntary ban but it is certainly one step towards eliminating them altogether.
The trouble, I think, is that water bottles have become so much a part of a lives mostly because they are convenient. We will just have to find other ways.
Thanks for dropping in.