(AFP) – 1 day ago
SYDNEY — An Australian town pulled all bottled water from its
shelves Saturday and replaced it with refillable bottles in what is
believed to be a world-first ban.
Hundreds of people marched through the picturesque rural town of
Bundanoon to mark the first day of its bottled water ban by
unveiling a series of new public drinking fountains, said campaign
spokesman John Dee.
Shopkeepers ceremoniously removed the last bottles of water from
their shelves and replaced them with reusable bottles that can be
filled from fountains inside the town's shops or at water stations
in the street.
"Every bottle today was taken off the shelf and out of the
fridges so you can only now buy refillable bottles in shops in
Bundanoon," Dee told AFP.
The tiny town, two hours south of Sydney, voted in July to ban
bottled water after a drinks company moved to tap into a local
aquifer for its bottled water business.
"In the process of the campaign against that the local people
became educated about the environmental impact of bottled water,"
said Dee.
"A local retailer came up with this idea of well why don't we do
something about that and actually stop selling the bottled water
and it got a favourable reaction," he said.
Dee said the 2,000-person town had made international headlines
with their bid, which he hoped would spur communities across the
world to action.
"Whilst our politicians grapple with the enormity of dealing
with climate change what Bundanoon shows is that at the very local
level we can sometimes do things that can surprise ourselves, in
terms of our ability to bring about real and measurable change that
has a real benefit for the environment," he said.
The cash savings only made the project more compelling, he
added.
"I think that's why this campaign is doing so well, because
we're saying to people you can save money and save the environment
at the same time," said Dee. "The alternative doesn't have a sexy
brand, doesn't have pictures of mountain streams on the front of
it, it comes out of your tap."
Activists say bottling water causes unnecessary use of plastics
and fuel for transport. A New South Wales study found that in 2006,
the industry was responsible for releasing 60,000 tonnes of gases
blamed for global warming.
