Town Bans Bottled Water Sales

[BloodEclipse]

Supporters Cite Oil Used To Make Bottles



POSTED: 1:31 pm EDT April 30, 2010
UPDATED: 7:37 am EDT May 1, 2010



CONCORD, Mass. --






The town of Concord has banned the sale of bottled drinking water in town beginning in 2011.
"We only have one planet and I just don't want to see it spoiled," said Jean Hill, who introduced the measure at Concord's Town Meeting.
Hill said that New York, Illinois and Virginia, as well as more than 100 cities, have taken action to cut spending on bottled water.
The measured passed by Concord would allow the sale of refillable containers of water, which could still be sold and delivered in town. Only plastic bottles that companies cannot reuse would be banned.
"Water is something we can get from the faucet. You can't turn your faucet on and get soda," said Selectwoman Virginia McIntyre, explaining why other plastic bottles would not be banned.

Supporters say the production of plastic water bottles uses 17 million barrels of oil each year. The beverage industry opposes the measure.
"If you think about the fact that our bottles are getting smaller and if you think about the fact that our bottles are going into the recycle bins in Concord, it's a crazy policy," said Ralph Crowley of Polar Beverages.
The ban on plastic water bottle sales may be largely symbolic. Town officials aren't sure they have the power to enact the ban without approval from the state.

Maybe I want to buy my water from who I please. Maybe the city water tastes like crap.
Maybe someone needs to remind these idiots, that we live in the USA.

 

[lashicoN]

We don't live in the USA. We now live in the Twilight Zone. USA is something awesome from our history books.

The idea of freedom is truly over, and I'm not just talking about water bottles.

 

[Ogre]

I wholeheartedly agree with their position on bottled water, but I'm against banning anything. This will only create an underground black market in the bottled water trade. The quality of product would be comprimised, violence would escalate...

 

[jsgolfman]

I know that's in purple, but if I were in close proximity to Concord I guarantee I would now be in the bottled water business.

 

[Captain Bligh]

I'm a part of a group of folks that clean up a stretch of Fort Wayne riverbank twice a year. I'm not sure how I feel about banning things, but if they could un-invent the plastic bolttle and styrofoam I think it would be a wonderful thing for the environment.

Of course if people would change habits and not use our earth as one giant wastecan, that would also be a good thing.

 

[SD45]

They better not drive a newer car considering all the synthetic materials that are in them. Or how about anything produced in the past 25 years....

 

[femurphy77]

I saw a report on the Pacific Gyre a couple of years ago. It disgusted me what we are doing to our oceans and the creatures that depend on them for survival, plastic is a MAJOR contributor to this problem. I (Breaking out soapbox and captain treehugger cape) personally feel the plastic bags we use everyday at the stores should be completely banned, and we go to reusable bags like they recently started offering. I don't think that they should ban the plastic bottles so much as put a sizable deposit on them, maybe a quarter on the 16 oz and smaller sizes, maybe 75 cents on the up to 3 liter sizes. If these steps didn't go far enough in reducing the waste and damages of plastic then I wouldn't have much of a problem supporting an outright ban on these products. I'll see if I can find a link to this video I'm talking about, perhaps it'll open a few eyes.

And yes I am aware of all the uses of plastics and how much it would impact daily life.

 

[wtfd661]

I'm a part of a group of folks that clean up a stretch of Fort Wayne riverbank twice a year. I'm not sure how I feel about banning things, but if they could un-invent the plastic bolttle and styrofoam I think it would be a wonderful thing for the environment.

Of course if people would change habits and not use our earth as one giant wastecan, that would also be a good thing.

Rep'd for your effort and I feel the same way about un-inventing plastic bottle's & styrofoam

 

[jeremy]

I saw a report on the Pacific Gyre a couple of years ago. It disgusted me what we are doing to our oceans and the creatures that depend on them for survival, plastic is a MAJOR contributor to this problem. I (Breaking out soapbox and captain treehugger cape) personally feel the plastic bags we use everyday at the stores should be completely banned, and we go to reusable bags like they recently started offering. I don't think that they should ban the plastic bottles so much as put a sizable deposit on them, maybe a quarter on the 16 oz and smaller sizes, maybe 75 cents on the up to 3 liter sizes. If these steps didn't go far enough in reducing the waste and damages of plastic then I wouldn't have much of a problem supporting an outright ban on these products. I'll see if I can find a link to this video I'm talking about, perhaps it'll open a few eyes.

And yes I am aware of all the uses of plastics and how much it would impact daily life.

You do realize that most of the Plastic Bags that are available are Bio-Degradable. And with exposure to UV and Moisture the compound begins breaking down. And that Bio-Degradable Plastic is made from Corn Starch and not a Petro-Plastic...

 

[CulpeperMM]

.

 

[smoking357]

I saw a report on the Pacific Gyre a couple of years ago. It disgusted me what we are doing to our oceans and the creatures that depend on them for survival, plastic is a MAJOR contributor to this problem. I (Breaking out soapbox and captain treehugger cape) personally feel the plastic bags we use everyday at the stores should be completely banned, and we go to reusable bags like they recently started offering. I don't think that they should ban the plastic bottles so much as put a sizable deposit on them, maybe a quarter on the 16 oz and smaller sizes, maybe 75 cents on the up to 3 liter sizes. If these steps didn't go far enough in reducing the waste and damages of plastic then I wouldn't have much of a problem supporting an outright ban on these products. I'll see if I can find a link to this video I'm talking about, perhaps it'll open a few eyes.

And yes I am aware of all the uses of plastics and how much it would impact daily life.

Deposits are just another scam to line the pockets of government and business. See Michigan's bottle and can return scam. The public comes nowhere near seeing a return of all the money they paid.

If plastic is so bad, let's return to paper bags and glass bottles. Pop tastes better in a glass bottle, anyway.

 

[Expat]

Why don't they ban really annoying stuff instead, fat girls in spandex pants or belly shirts.
To be equal opportunity ban tshirts on fat guys that are so short they turn into belly shirts.

 

[Paco Bedejo]

but if they could un-invent the plastic bolttle and styrofoam I think it would be a wonderful thing for the environment.

Rep'd for your effort and I feel the same way about un-inventing plastic bottle's & styrofoam

You guys are joking...right? You'd rather go back to broken glass cutting children's feet everywhere?

Of course, if we'd privatize the parks, there wouldn't be an issue. People are much more likely to take care of things/places they're directly paying for. When it's free, it's abused (health care, welfare, food stamps, parks, shooting ranges, etc.)

Just like we don't need to publicly fund "the arts" to ensure their existence, we don't need to publicly fund parks. Demand will always find supply.

 

[smoking357]

You guys are joking...right? You'd rather go back to broken glass cutting children's feet everywhere?

Fixed that you you.

 

[BloodEclipse]

Fixed that you you.

I was a victim of broken bottle glass. Once I was carrying bottles back to the neighborhood store for the deposit money and to buy my sick Dad some soup.
I tripped and fell on the bottles and cut my hands up pretty badly.
Another time I was playing wiffleball in the park and while running from third base to home I stepped on broken glass that sent me to the hospital. I almost cut clear through the ball of my foot.
Had those been plastic I would have had no injuries.

 

[jd4320t]

I like the plastic bottle and I'd like to keep it. I've also been a recycler since my early teen years. I grew up in a small town with terrible water. You could pour a crystal clear glass full of water and let it sit for ten minutes and it would still be cloudy. My mom had water delivered to our house for the water cooler and we bought bottled water for on the go. Fifteen years later I live in Indy and its just as bad, bad taste and smell. If my city water department could give me good tasting and clean water I would glady drink it but I don't see that happening.

I don't see any way that this BAN will stick.

 

[mrjarrell]

I saw a report on the Pacific Gyre a couple of years ago. It disgusted me what we are doing to our oceans and the creatures that depend on them for survival, plastic is a MAJOR contributor to this problem. I (Breaking out soapbox and captain treehugger cape) personally feel the plastic bags we use everyday at the stores should be completely banned, and we go to reusable bags like they recently started offering. I don't think that they should ban the plastic bottles so much as put a sizable deposit on them, maybe a quarter on the 16 oz and smaller sizes, maybe 75 cents on the up to 3 liter sizes. If these steps didn't go far enough in reducing the waste and damages of plastic then I wouldn't have much of a problem supporting an outright ban on these products. I'll see if I can find a link to this video I'm talking about, perhaps it'll open a few eyes.

And yes I am aware of all the uses of plastics and how much it would impact daily life.

When I go to the store I ask for plastic bags, exclusively. I save them up and then drop them in the stores recycle bin. Problem solved and it didn't require a politician and a person with a gun. It just required me.

Warning: Language

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtqSPahiMxw

 

[BloodEclipse]

Surrounding towns will be selling many more bottles of water as a result.
People are idiots.

 

[mrjarrell]

Surrounding towns will be selling many more bottles of water as a result.
People are idiots.

If any of the businesses in that town have courage they'll sell bottled water anyway and tell the local tyrants to go to h*ll. That law's unenforceable and the lawsuit would be beneficial to a businesses bottom line.

 

[Expat]

I think you guys are forgetting about the children.