Statement: Corporate Accountability International on Seattle Mayor's Decision to Cut City Bottled Water Spending

Mary Rafferty, Seattle Organizer, Corporate Accountability International

For Immediate Release:
March 14, 2008
 
Contacts:
Mary Rafferty 206-568-2850 x106
Nick Guroff (617) 447-2507

“Corporate Accountability International’s Think Outside the Bottle campaign commends Mayor Nickels for cutting city spending on bottled water. His action sends residents the message that Seattle’s tap water is every bit as safe and reliable as bottled water – and doesn’t generate the billions of pounds of plastic waste and millions of tons of greenhouse gas.

“Nickels joins a growing list of prominent national mayors, who are cutting bottled water from city budgets. These mayors are raising awareness about the impact of bottled water marketing on confidence in public water systems – and taking action to get the truth out. City water systems are in fact more highly regulated than bottled water, though one in five Americans now drinks only bottled water.

“The Mayor’s commitment can have a ripple effect in Seattle as it has in other communities. In Salt Lake City, a mayor’s initiative lead more than a dozen restaurants to stop serving bottled water. In Minneapolis, the mayor’s commitment to the Think Outside the Bottle campaign has spurred other elected officials across the state to speak out on the issue.

“Locally, the Think Outside the Bottle campaign is working on campuses, with businesses, and in the faith community to curtail the use of bottled water, primarily out of concern for how water, as a resource, is treated. Bottled water corporations have demonstrated time and again that when the basic human right to water is commodified, it’s bad news for taxpayers, public water systems and the environment. There are some things you just can’t put a price tag on.

“We look forward to working with the Mayor’s office in educating the public about the harms of bottled water and the need to better support the city’s world-class public water systems – systems that provide all residents equal access to this most essential resource.”