Conferences, Stop Giving Bottled Water to Speakers! That’s the Next Challenge
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY 
on 11.25.08
Imagine if every time Steve Jobs introduced a new product instead of having a water bottle on that podium he had a pitcher and a water glass? Photo: MLive.com.
I’m sure you’ve all been there: You're at some sort of conference, panel discussion or public presentation and every speaker or speakers at the gathering has a brand new bottle of water waiting for them should their whistle need to be wetted. It becomes even more absurd when the event is about green issues, or (gasp) one of the panelists has written about bottled water’s environmental problems.
The meme is out there that the individual carrying a water bottle is better than purchasing bottled water, but it somehow this hasn’t crossed over to event organizers. Let’s change that:
Slight Effort = Big Enviro Improvement & Better Guest Experience
If you organize conferences, pledge that you will not supply your speakers with bottled water. Instead provide speakers with a pitcher of water and clear glasses. It a simple, and civil, thing to do that is both greener than the alternative and more welcoming to boot.
If you are a guest at an event where the speakers are served water in bottles, speak up about it. Find the event organizer and politely tell explain to them that supplying speakers with bottled water sends a bad environmental message and would they consider pitchers and glasses in the future.
Isn’t that much more enticing than a plastic bottle? Photo: Waldo Jaquith.
A Little Mindfulness Can Go A Long Way
I’m not pointing this out to single out any one person or company (the photo of Steve Jobs with the water bottle and text behind him was too convenient to pass up...), but only to point out that, as with many things in the green sphere, its not harder to do the environmentally better thing; it’s just habit that keeps us from doing so. Somehow bottled water caught on as being marginally easier than supply reusable glasses and now habit has taken over.
What ever happened to proper water glasses and a pitcher anyway? Not only is it better for the environment to be drinking tap water (filtered/purified if need be) instead of bottled water, but it’s a far nicer experience.
What would you rather do? Suck on some plastic spout or drink from the rim of a nice glass?
The Bottled Water Scourge...
So they're not all the biggest images, but you get the idea: Now picture everyone with water glasses and a pitcher of cool water either on the table or on a table nearby. That's what I want to see.
images: flickr, Apple Education Communities, World Bank, Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) in Hannover, Secrets of Spiritual Happiness, Colling Accounting & Consulting Ltd, United Nations
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I second this! I ahve been to 2 conferences where cleantech and sustainability were a reason to bring 400 people together and drink from bottled water....
if there weren't enough, one served soup from a styrofoam coffee cup.
Needless to say, a few of us treehuggers tracked down event organizers to express our displeasure
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www.cleanergreenerchina.com
Even worse, these bottles are highly visible, furthering the notion that bottled water is somehow a status symbol, thus perpetuating demand for it.
the last conference I was at there were no bottles of water. there were just that, pitchers of ice water and glasses for each participant. It was a a hotel, and I am not sure if it was the hotel's choice to do that or the organizers themselves.
People don't even drink the bottled water most of the time anyway. They may take a sip and then toss the plastic bottle in the garbage (not the recycling because there is not a bin in sight, mind you!) as they leave the conference. Wasteful and pointless.
At the recent Association for the Advancevent for Sustsinability in Higher Education (AASHE) conference, all the keynote speakers, including Lester Brown, Vandana Shiva, and Van Jones were given bottles water! I couldn't believe it!