Santa Fe New Mexican - Chavez's bottle-weaning is a solution that works

Martin Chávez has the right idea when it comes to bottled water. The Albuquerque mayor has been getting national publicity — both CNN and The Washington Post have featured him — for his campaign to remind Americans that bottled water isn't best.

Chávez recently succeeded in persuading the U.S. Conference of Mayors to pass a resolution urging cities to limit bottled water to emergency situations.

Just think, instead of meetings with bottled water handed out like candy, cool pitchers of ice water and glasses would be placed on tables instead. The bottles of water would be saved for situations where water is contaminated — after a disaster, for example, or because of a problem in a pipeline.

Emergencies, not convenience, would be the rule of the day.

The push behind the movement is twofold, Chávez told The Washington Post.

Bottled water is expensive — a 1,000 to 10,000 percent mark-up over tap water. And, the disposal of plastic bottles has become an environmental nightmare. It's also an environmental black mark to use precious fuel to carry water across the globe to a country where safe water is available just by turning a tap.

More to the point, Chávez believes that the subtext of marketing bottled waters to consumers is, to put it baldly, a lie. Bottled water manufacturers make their millions by implying, ever so subtly, that tap water isn't safe, and that only by buying water from a bottle will consumers be assured of clean drinking water.

It's time to trade that disposable bottle for reusable water bottles — both to reduce waste and to save money, not just for governments but for individual buyers. Folks who don't like the taste of their tap water can always filter it at a small cost compared with paying for water in a bottle.

Interestingly, even though Chávez's resolution was non-binding, it still caused a ruckus at the conference. Cities such as Atlanta, where Coke rules — the soft drink company sells Dasani water — were pressured to oppose the resolution because it might "hamper public comfort at civic events such as marathons, concerts and other public gatherings."

Instead, just imagine this scene: After a concert or a marathon, instead of sanitation workers bent over picking up plastic bottles, we see a bottle-free expanse of grass or concert floor.

What an idea! Making do with what's on hand, as frugally as possible. Chávez deserves praise for this idea, and for going national to persuade the rest of us.

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