San Francisco City Council
Posted: 15.06.09 | Created by: Do Something
Overview
The city of San Francisco, located at the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, is the 13th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated city population of over 800,000, to the exclusion of the greater metropolitan area.
Despite owning a pristine reservoir in the Sierra Nevada that is said to produce some of the country's best-tasting tap water, the city was spending nearly $500,000 a year on bottled water.
The San Francisco Chronicle's report in 2006 found the departments that spent the most money on bottled water and related expenses during the previous year were Public Health, which spent $139,926; Municipal, which spent $65,780; and San Francisco International Airport, which spent $65,670. Ironically, the Public Utilities Commission, which provides and promotes drinking water to 2.4 million Bay Area customers, spent $8,622 on bottled water.
The city’s spending on bottled water was at odds with the findings of taste tests, which indicated that the city's tap water tasted just as good as – if not better than – bottled water. Furthermore, the city’s mayor, Gavin Newsom, recognised the environmental impact of making, transporting and disposing of the bottles, noting that more than a billion ended up in the state’s landfills each year.
Solution
In June 2007, Newsom prohibited spending city money on single-serving bottled water.
In addition to city departments, all city concessions, city-funded events and functions in city buildings were prohibited from using city money to buy bottled water by July 1.
By December 1, all city departments located on city property were required to switch from bottled water dispensers to dispensers that attached to taps or water pipes, and used water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park.
Results
The dispensers cost about $400 each, but the city's environmental director, Jared Blumenfeld, is confident that these costs will be offset by the savings to the city’s $500,000-a-year bottled water bill.
By late June 2007, more than 30 cities and towns in the United States and Canada had taken steps to curtail spending on bottled water, according to Corporate Accountability International.
Facts and figures sourced from the
San Francisco Chronicle 22/06/07.