Cities knock high cost, waste

Once the ultimate staus symbol, now a mere mainstay, bottled water has never been more popular - or controversial.  Municipal leaders in southeastern Michigan and across the country want to wean residents off their preceious bottled water, but millions of people appear not to be ready to give up the stuff.

 

City leaders and environmentalists point to low recycling rates, the millions of gallons of petroleum used in making the bottles and bottled water's high cost. Last month, the U.S. Conference of Mayors convention voted to phase out bottled water use at city offices.

 

 

"The idea is to slowly move people away from bottled water," said Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, whose city was one of the first in the nation to ban the sale of bottled water at city-sponsored events. "People have perfectly good tap water available to them here."

 

Despite the backlash, bottled water remains hot. Americans will spend more than $12.5 billion and consume more than 9.4 billion gallons this year, according to estimate4s by the national Beverage Marketing Corp. That's doubled from eight years ago.

 

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