Austin American-Statesman - Council weighs plan to eliminate plastic bottles at City Hall

By Katie Humphrey

Now would be a good time to find the drinking fountain at Austin City Hall.

At today's meeting, City Council members will consider a crackdown on plastic water bottles inside the city's copper-coated headquarters. People would still be allowed to bring in bottled water, but it would no longer be provided by the city for meetings or other events.

The resolution, authored by Council Member Lee Leffingwell and supported by Council Member Brewster McCracken and Mayor Will Wynn, also asks City Manager Marc Ott to explore other ways to eliminate bottled water from city operations and report back in 120 days.

The city spends about $40,000 a year on bottled water. It is unclear how much of that bottled water is used at City Hall.

"I think people already make an effort" to reduce the number of plastic water bottles, Leffingwell said, noting pitchers of water on the council dais.

But all the little steps are necessary to help the city meet its goal of producing zero waste by the year 2040 or sooner, he said.

Last year, Leffingwell pushed for a ban on plastic bags citywide, a measure that was scaled back to allow for voluntary compliance before it was approved by council members this year.

According to the Think Outside the Bottle campaign, a national movement against bottled water, more than a dozen cities have either banned or curtailed the use of bottled water, including San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Seattle.

"Cities are getting involved because it's a way to reduce taxpayer cost, reduce environmental waste and then bolster needed support for public water systems," said Deborah Lapidus, a national organizer with the campaign.

Restaurants and churches across the county have also chosen to forgo bottled water, she said.

Leffingwell said he would like to see local businesses consider ditching bottled water on a voluntary basis, similar to the plastic bag reduction plan.

It makes sense financially, but the environmental impact should be enough to convince people to turn on the tap for water, he said.

"Every piece of plastic that's ever been put in a landfill is still there," Leffingwell said.

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