Bottled-water ban taps trend

Takoma Park City Council vote aims to cut city’s impact on environment

Mayor Bruce Williams said he proposed the measure during Earth Week on the advice of several residents.

‘‘It’s something that the city can do, it’s some we can educate the public about, and it’s the first in a number of steps we can take,” Williams said while Councilman Reuben Snipper (Ward 5) displayed the water pitchers and cups the City Council will now use instead.

Under the resolution, which passed unanimously Monday (Ward 1 Councilman Josh Wright was absent), the city cannot purchase disposable water bottles less than one gallon in size, and the council encouraged residents, business owners and event organizers throughout the city to seek alternatives to bottled water.

The movement to reduce water-bottle use has been gaining momentum in recent years. New York City has started a campaign to promote drinking tap water and Chicago has passed a tax on water bottles to curb their use.

In 2007, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which represents more than 1,100 cities, passed a resolution questioning the need for municipal purchases of water bottles while cities already spend $43 billion a year keeping their own water supplies clean.

Takoma Park Council members said the measure will also help reduce the city’s global footprint because it will cut down on the manufacturing, packaging and transportation costs of obtaining bottled water. It also will eliminate the issue of how best to recycle the plastic bottles. According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86 percent of plastic water bottles used in the United States do not get recycled.

Williams said in many cases bottled water is taken from municipal water supplies but bought at a much higher cost than local tap water. He added that the city will consider what to do about the two vending machines in the Community Center that still sell bottled water.

Councilman Terry Seamens (Ward 4) agreed with the resolution but asked about how it will be applied. He gave as an example the city’s Independence Day celebration, when the weather is typically hot and patrolling police officers will need drinking water.

Williams said there are still some practical issues to work out, but that he thought there was enough time before the weather got hot.

Williams had said previously that he is not interested in extending the ban throughout the city.

‘‘We’re a little place,” he said. ‘‘It’s hard and maybe not appropriate to find things to ban. But I’m perfectly happy to do education campaigns and give people the information they need to make educated choices.”

But some council members have suggested that the city should consider reducing its use of other products. Councilman Wright has said he is interested in prohibiting plastic bags, which other cities have done as well, but he wants a better understanding of the ramifications of such a ban before taking further action.