Little old Bundanoon - Leading the world in the fight against bottled water?

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Angela Harlem

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It's a town not many Australians would even be aware of, let alone the rest of the world, but this town is taking a bold and innovative step as of tomorrow, in the fight against bottled water and the manufacturing giants who rake in hundreds of millions in Australia alone, and is banning the sale of bottled water in the town. Instead, residents can purchase a reusable bottle and refill it at one of the free water facilities that have been set up. The tap water is filtered and cold, also.

I love the idea. It's better than the food police tobacco police because it's forcing environmental consciousness on a society that just won't accept that things need a change.
Bundanoon to launch bottle ban - Local News - News - General - Southern Highland News


Bundanoon to launch bottle ban
ROBYN MURRAY
25/09/2009 11:04:00 AM
BUNDANOON businesses are clearing commercially bottled still water from their shelves as the village prepares to launch its Bundy-On-Tap campaign.
From tomorrow, Bundanoon will become the first town in Australia, and possibly the world, to go bottled water free.

Instead of commercially bottled water, businesses will offer thirsty customers reusable Bundy-On-Tap water bottles that can be filled with free chilled, filtered water from the shops or from four hi-tech water stations in the main street.

School children can fill up their bottles free of charge from the filtered water station in the Bundanoon primary school.

Bundanoon Supermarket owner Grant McIntosh sold his last commercial water bottle on Wednesday and by Thursday morning had already sold 25 Bundy-On-Tap bottles and ordered a further 150.

Mr McIntosh said customers were snapping up the Bundanoon blue Bundy-On-Tap bottles as souvenirs as well as buying them filled.

“The response has been very good,” he said.

“The public has been very supportive so far.”

Mr McIntosh said like all participating businesses, he was a little uncertain about Bundy-On-Tap at the start, but feedback had been positive.

“I’m sure that we will have some people put out. Five per cent of people don’t like change, but the rest have been fine,” he said.

Although the sale of Bundy-On-Tap bottles won’t compensate for his loss of income from commercially bottled water, Mr McIntosh said he was happy to make the change for the sake of the community and the environment.

“Hopefully, it will all even out,” he said.

“With the official launch, there will be higher interest in the town and hopefully it will substantiate what we are doing.

“From what I can see, it’s full steam ahead.”

Bundy-On-Tap spokesman Huw Kingston said it was extremely heartening that the town had become an international role model for grassroots action.

“As politicians grapple with the issue of climate change, we should never forget that each and every one of us can make a real difference at the very local level,” he said.

“Here in Bundanoon, our aim is to show the Australian and global community, that we no longer have to pay the financial and environmental cost of bottled water.”
Action group Do Something organised for the water stations and filters to be donated by Street Furniture Australia and Culligan Water. Camelbak has donated 2000 bottles and the NSW Government through its Community Economic Development Program has assisted with funding for a “buy local” campaign.
Do Something Jon Dee said residents and visitors would save money and always have access to great drinking water, without the environmental price of bottled water.
“What’s also great is that the retailers will continue to make money by selling refillable bottles,” he said.
The filtered water stations in the main street and at Bundanoon Public School will be turned on at the tomorrow’s launch, starting at 10am at the Bundanoon Memorial Hall.
 
I wonder how many rum drinking bogans will go to find this free Bundy-On-Tap and be terribly disappointed.
 
i think this is a good idea. personally i'd drink a lot more tap water if it were easier to have access to cold tap water. i mean yeah i can just turn on my faucet, but obviously i'm not home 24/7 as i'm a very busy person. when i'm out somewhere, for the most part, i can't get cold tap water, or even any in most places. for example, the grocery store. yet they have easy access to cold bottled water thanks to those little coolers they keep everywhere.

though i mostly drink flavoured vitamin water. but yeah.
 
I've always been waaaay to cheap to buy bottled water. :lol:

I do keep a Brita filter pitcher of water (and a second plain pitcher of filtered water) in my fridge so I always have cold water (the water in my city tastes awful! :yuck: ). When I go out I just fill a bottle from the pitcher, or if I will be gone longer fill an insulated travel cup or small thermos with ice and cold water. Only when I'm places where I can't do that do I buy bottled water.

I do think this plan is good, but I can't help but laugh because I think "hmm, these water stations remind me of something... ah, that's it! Water fountains!"
 
yeah i'm lucky, the water here is actually well known for its taste. plus there's none of that weird floating stuff in the water like i've seen in some parts of the us. it's weird though, water fountains seem to be a dying breed here. i hardly see any here these days.
 
I do think this plan is good, but I can't help but laugh because I think "hmm, these water stations remind me of something... ah, that's it! Water fountains!"


Haha, yeah I was a bit confused....this town has never had drinking fountains before? I don't think I've ever been in a school or business that has not had drinking fountains.

Bottled water I couldn't care one way or the other about. I am too cheap to buy water for $1.50 a bottle (though I do keep a bottle that I re-use). I always ask for my soda with "no ice" b/c it generally comes out of the machine cold anyway and then you are paying for 2/3 cup of ice. At Solder Field they looked at me like I was nuts but I'm not paying $5 for ice and no re-fills!!
 
Is a water fountain a bubbler? I don't know of any public bubblers, or fountains that have filtered, cooled water in them. Usually it's water straight from the pipes. I don't actually know anyone outside a primary school who'd use a bubbler anyway, as it's, well, gross. You never know who's slobbered over it before you, or worse.
:slant:
 
Yeah, straight from the pipes (though the ones I've used have always been cold). But our water is already super "treated". I've never had filtered or bottled water, only tap, there's nothing wrong with the water from the pipes. like so:
Drinking%20Fountain.jpg
 
When I was in grade (primary school) we got what amounted to drinking fountain etiquette lessons -- the biggie being "touch ONLY the water with your lips -- NOTHING else!" :lol:
 
I used them when I was in Montana. But then again, I don't really waste much thought over who might how have drank from them before. I will survive, and when I don't think about it it can't gross me out. Also, whenever I saw people drinking from them they did like I did, i.e. didn't even touch the tap. I think such a thing saved my life the first day I was in Adelaide. :crack:

Interesting idea, though. In Germany carbonated water is very popular, so bottled water sells very good over here. And in some areas, even though the water is officially declared drinkable you don't really do it. For example, in the western part of Berlin the tap water has a strange taste and after a glass you feel like you have some fur inside your mouth. And after cooking there is always a membrane of lime. Here in the eastern part it's totally different and I always drink tap water.

I think I confused the hell out of people in the States anytime I requested "No ice, please" in my drinks. And sometimes I ended up with ice anyways.
 
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