FOR THOSE WHO WANTED TO FIGHT BOTTLED WATER AS PART OF THE NESTLE’S STRUGGLE LAST SUMMER, HERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY:
Take Back the Tap Northampton Restaurant Campaign launch meeting Tuesday July 8, 2 to 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Society on Main Street next to city hall.
The campaign is being organized by a student intern with Food & Water Watch (scroll down to see her contact information.)
The Take Back the Tap Campaign is a national effort that works to protect safe, accessible, clean water for all, both here in the U.S. and around the world. Our campaign is calling on local restaurants to pledge to shift away from bottled brands to municipal public water (more information below), and calling on our Congressman to reinvest in public water systems. Restaurants that sign on to the pledge will be featured in an online guide for businesses that provide wholesome, fresh, sustainable food (eatwellguide.org).
Take Back the Tap Northampton Restaurant Campaign
Goals
-To get as many restaurants as possible within Northampton to stop selling still bottled water.
-To have restaurants sign a pledge to stop selling bottled water and to serve only tap water.
-To educate consumers about the benefits of choosing tap over bottled water and to therefore start asking for tap water when eating out.
Actions: Our Kick-Off Meeting
The Noho restaurant campaign will kick off on July 8th, 2-4pm at our initial meeting at the Unitarian Society. In the first 20-30 minutes of the meeting, we will discuss general water issues and the time line of our restaurant campaign. Talking points will include:
Why Northampton restaurants should help break the bottled water habit:
Better for your health:
– Advertising spin has led people to believe that water in a bottle is safer or better than tap water. As much as 40 percent of bottled water comes from the tap.
– By turning to your restaurant tap, you’ll help consumers avoid the arsenic, microbes, toxic chemicals, and other pollutants that tests have found in various brands of bottled water.
– Tap water is regulated by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and is tested multiple times each day for safety; Bottled water is regulated by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) and is tested for contaminants only once a year.
Better for your wallet:
– Along with protecting consumer health, turning to tap water could save your restaurant big money. On a per gallon basis, tap water costs about $0.002 compared to the $0.89 to $8.26 charge for bottled water.
Better for the environment:
– Producing plastic bottles uses energy and emits toxic chemicals. And transporting the bottled water spews pollution into the air, adding to global climate change.
– About 86 percent of empty plastic water bottles in the U.S. land in the garbage instead of the recycle bin.
A chef or restaurant owner should:
Pledge to:
Eliminate the sale of non-carbonated bottled water;
Switch to serving only municipal tap water;
Help educate customers about the benefits of tap over bottled water;
Whenever possible, install a carbonation machine to make sparkling water from the tap.
The later part of the meeting will be dedicated to visiting restaurants. We will break up into teams and approach nearby restaurant owners with our pledge and other materials.
I look forward to discussing the meeting and our campaign with you soon!
Best,
Alisa Kowal
Organizing Fellow
Food & Water Watch
Tel: 413-387-8492
E-Mail: akowal@fwwatch.org
