Go City of Seattle!
Mayor Nickels announced last Thursday that the city of Seattle will no longer purchase bottled water.
Via a Seattle Times article:
The city could save as much as $58,000 a year, officials said, by not purchasing bottled water for events or water-cooler jugs for its workers.
“It is to really highlight the fact that Seattle has one of the best municipal water supplies in the country,” said Marty McOmber, the mayor’s spokesman. “When you look at the cost of bottled water, both in terms of financial costs and costs on the environment, it’s a pretty clear choice that using city water is a much better choice.”
Only 1 in 10 bottles are recycled. This is another example of Nickel’s “walking the walk” by taking steps to reduce environmental impact.
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And it saves money! Nice :D
But Seattle tap water tastes like chlorine. Ugh.
I don’t agree. I’ve lived 11 places in the Seattle area (in 11 years, I should settle down sometime) and not once have I lived somewhere with water that was not delicious. I grew up in a small town in Oregon and had well-water. That’s a distinct taste. The water at my in-laws place on Whidbey Island has a faint sulfur smell but it also quite drinkable.
I can’t believe that, while we have mandatory home recycling, that most offices only recycle paper. Therein lies the problem right there.
I think this is more about saving a few bucks and calling it environmental conscience. Most city employees, including the elected officials, still drive to work, get their fod in non-biodegradeable containers, etc. They’re not concerned with much more than making a gesture that makes them look good.
The mayor is working to change most of the vehicles his offices uses to hybrids. He also is pushing incentives for the city workers to use mass transit to get to work instead of driving. There’s a lot that his office has been doing to minimize the effects. You really should go look into it more instead of making stereotypical comments like the one you just left.
Also the last 3 office jobs I had included recycle bins for cans, bottles, recycled their ink cartridges, etc etc. Sure, some of it is voluntary but these places (from small businesses to larger corporations) really did attempt to go further. If you’ve been to City Hall, you would have noticed similar recycle containers scattered throughout the building.