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St. Louis Restaurants and City Hall to Drop Bottled Water Mayors and Brewmeisters Think Outside the Bottle ST. LOUIS — Restaurateurs, brewmeisters, and city officials announced plans today at Schlafy’s Tap Room to cancel bottled water contracts and instead promote the city’s high-quality tap water. The move is part of a nationwide effort, dubbed “Think Outside the Bottle,” that exposes the environmental and social impacts of bottled water. “Water is more than just something we pour in a glass,” said Tom Flood of Schlafly. “We rely on water for brewing our beer and for growing produce in our garden. Everyone relies on it for their food supply. So, it's in our best interest and in our customers' best interest to protect the primary resource behind our business. And, as a bonus, we will cut down on waste and save our customers money.” Bottled water, now a $15 billion industry, began its boom when it appeared on the menus of high-end restaurants. The restaurant industry is now turning back the clock in St. Louis, following the example of prominent national restaurateurs like Mario Batali (Del Posto) and Alice Waters (Chez Panisse). “The City supports the use of tap water. St. Louis' water is first class and the best tasting in the nation,” said Tim Embree, environmental aid to the mayor. “We encourage all businesses to utilize our great water flowing out of every city tap." Embree also said that Mayor Slay will soon announce plans to cut city spending on bottled water. Cities across the country are canceling bottled water contracts to save taxpayer money and reduce waste. Their efforts also counter the bottled water marketing that has eroded confidence in public water systems, even though tap is more highly regulated than bottled water. “The bottom line is that water is a basic human right,” said Claire Miller, St. Louis organizer for Corporate Accountability International. “When it is treated as a commodity instead of a shared natural resource, our democracy, health and environment suffers.” In the United States, cities currently spend millions on bottled water even though they provide the same resource themselves in the form of the tap. The mixed message they are sending is part of the reason why one in five people drink only bottled water, though what they are getting in the bottle is no more reliable than the tap. "Populations across the world are growing increasingly dependent on water from private corporations in the form of bottled water or corporate-operated water systems,” said Cathy Blair of Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice. “But these systems are no substitute for public water works because they focus on profits, not the long-term needs of the communities they serve.” What’s more, as the bottled water industry has grown, the political will to adequately fund public water systems has diminished. The gap between what these public water systems need, and the funding available to them, is more than $22 billion and growing. # # # For more information on Think Outside the Bottle, city and restaurant actions across the country, and for facts about bottled water, visit www.ThinkOutsideTheBottle.org.
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