A San Francisco official has proposed a ban on bottled water that would be one of the strictest in the nation.

When’s the last time you attended a sporting event, concert, or parade that didn’t have bottled water for sale? If San Francisco Supervisor David Chiu is successful, this could soon describe every event held on public property in his city.

Chiu recently proposed a strict ban on bottled water sales in San Francisco. The legislation would “gradually phase in a ban on the sale of bottled water of 21 fluid ounces or less on all city properties with leases signed after 2014 and at concerts, large events, parks and food trucks,” reports the Huffington Post.

Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste each year. According to The Water Project, plastic water bottles take more than 1,000 years to bio-degrade and if incinerated, produce toxic fumes.

“Given our access to incredibly healthy clean and tasty Hetch Hetchy water, which is some of the highest quality municipal tap water in the country, it just doesn’t make sense for us to have this addiction to plastic water bottles,” Chiu told the San Francisco Examiner.

At first, the ban would apply only to sites that already have alternative water sources, such as drinking fountains, eventually extending to all events on San Francisco property. By 2016 the ban would also apply to outside vendors as well, explains The New American.

Although it would be the most aggressive, the San Francisco bottled water ban wouldn’t be America’s first. In January 2013, Concord, Mass., became the first U.S. community to outlaw single-serving plastic water bottles. Although significant, the Concord law carries only a $50 fine for stores that violate the ban (and there is an exemption for emergencies).

The proposed San Francisco ban would start October 2014 for new leases, including renewals, and permits for vendors in public parks, including mobile food trucks, reports NACS Online. By 2016, no one would have license to sell or give out water bottles at events held outdoors on public property.

As one might expect, the International Bottled Water Association is not pleased with the idea of a San Francisco bottled water ban. The IBWA claims that banning bottled water will have a negative effect on public health, stating: “Efforts to eliminate or reduce access to  bottled water will force consumers  to choose less healthy drink options that have more packaging, more additives (e.g., sugar, caffeine), and greater environmental impacts than bottled water.”

What do you think? Does the San Francisco bottled water ban infringe on consumer rights? Or is it a necessary policy in a world that’s literally swimming in plastic waste? Tell us in the comments.

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Image: stevendepolo

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While most of us talk the talk and don’t always walk the walk, the small Australian town of Bundanoon, approximately 90 miles southwest of Sydney, is doing both.

Last week this rural town of 2,500 made headline news around the world when its residents voted to ban bottled water.

The trigger for this action was an application by a Sydney company to build a local water extraction plant so it could take water from Bundanoon’s local reserve and truck it back to Sydney for bottling. The application was turned down but it got the local residents thinking about the impact that bottled water has on the environment. And they didn’t like what they learned – such as the fact that “in 2006, the Australian bottle water industry caused the release of 60,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas.”

Despite the fact that many local businesses will take a hit financially, the town overwhelmingly decided to ban the bottle and instead put “Bundy on Tap.”

Free water fountains will be installed to replace the bottled water and local businesses will sell only reusable bottles that can be filled at the fountains.

Image: Klearchos Kapoutsis

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