We Can't Make This Stuff Up Dept: Promoting Bottled Water to Fight Drought
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10.20.07
This author has just walked past a restaurant with a sign in the window stating that, due to water restrictions, they will no longer be serving water to tables unless it is asked for. Intrigued, we asked a friend who is a committed water conservation activist, and she informed us that this is actually a year-round requirement which nobody enforces. We suspect the amount of water that such a move saves, compared to measures like restricting lawn irrigation, is relatively small, but it does send out a welcome message that potable water is not something to be taken for granted.
Other conservation schemes seem less brainy to us. While looking into the idea of water conservation in restaurants a little further, we found an astounding article from 2002 about restaurants in Charlottesville, Virginia banding together to help conservation efforts. Their solutions? Promote bottled water and use paper plates. While we applaud anyone taking up the old "Act Local" mantra, we would counsel them to not forget its preceding phrase - "Think Global". Even bottled water comes from somewhere, and the water and other resources that go into making plastic bottles and paper plates are likely to far outweigh the amount wasted from table service of tap water. Let's just hope that things have progressed in the years since this article was written.
For more thoughts on water conservation, check out our guide on How to Green Your Water, and take a look at our posts on The Navy Shower and The Selective Flush while you are at it. ::Cavalier Daily::via Google search::
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
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Interestingly enough, regulations regarding serving water at restaurants is often paired with other such regulations in the facility such as high pressure/low flow rinse option for dishes, and low flow toilets. Long Beach, CA has recently imposed an irrigation regulation that includes irrigation, washing hardscapes, and restaurant use.
Man, people do not have a clue. Skip one toilet flush and you have drinking water for a week. Skip one shower and you have drinking water for a month. Bottled water wastes petroleum in a big way. We're doomed, not because it is hopeless, but because the people in charge are idiots.
I grew up in Charlottesville and I remember the water restrictions of the 1990s. I think at one point the city turned off the waterfountains, both drinking and ornamental.
At one point the water levels were so low that there was talk of shutting down the regional nuclear powerplant.