Bottled water getting the boot in Providence
November 2008
U.S. Water News Online
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Providence Mayor David Cicilline says he's signing an executive order prohibiting city departments from spending taxpayer money on bottled water.
The ban on single-serving bottles would take effect Jan. 1 and is intended to reduce environmental waste and promote confidence in the city's water supply.
Cicilline's move follows a vote by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in June to encourage its 1,100 members to phase out use of bottled water in their own governments. That vote was a blow to the beverage industry, which called the idea “sound-bite environmentalism.”
Cicilline announced the coming bottle ban at a press conference to recognize five Rhode Island restaurants that have also stopped selling bottled water as part of a national “Think Outside the Bottle” campaign.