State of Vermont spent $228,874 on bottled water in 2008

Vermont state government spent $228,874 on bottled water in 2008, according to a new report Getting States Off the Bottle released today by Corporate Accountability International. The new report also documents state spending in three other Northeastern states, where the expenditures ranged between $205,833 (Connecticut) and $527,107 (Massachusetts) a year for bottled water, or the equivalent of the funding needed to purchase 270 to 693 water fountains equipped with glass fillers.
“Public dollars spent to support the private water interests robs the public water system of available dollars, nearly $12 billion in the U.S. in 2007. Many of these dollars could instead be spent to be sure tap water is safe,” said state Rep. Jim McCullough (D-Williston).
Rep. Jim McCullough is one of hundreds of public officials nationwide that are now calling for taxpayer dollars to cease flowing to bottled water. In 2008, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, representing more than 1200 mayors, resolved to encourage mayors to phase out city spending on bottled water. To date, more than 100 cities have taken action to cut spending on bottled water or support public water systems as well as three states, including Illinois, Virginia and New York.
Governors and mayors are stewards of our public water systems, responsible for overseeing budgets that provide the overwhelming majority of public funding for this essential public service. But the need for greater investment in these systems is growing rapidly, while federal funding for these systems is languishing. Nationally public water systems face a $24 billion annual investment gap.
A major cause of the gap in funding has been the marketing and promotion of bottled water. Marketing campaigns, such as Nestlé’s Born Better, have convinced one in five people to believe the only place to get clean drinking water is from a bottle. And as public confidence in tap water has waned, so too has the political will to invest in public water.
“Swift action by the governor to cut bottled water spending can be a strong first step in restoring public water systems and the public’s confidence in them,” said Kelle Louaillier, executive director of Corporate Accountability International.
After all, up to forty percent of bottled water sold comes from the same source as tap water. Tap water is also more highly regulated than what comes in the bottle.
Public education campaigns like Think Outside the Bottle are, however, restoring confidence in public water systems. A recent Harris Poll found that 29 percent of people switched from bottled to tap water in the last year. An overall decline in the North American bottled water market reflects this shift in behavior and attitude toward the tap. However, state action to invest in public water is still lagging. While each state profiled in the report has taken some steps to allocate funding towards water infrastructure – such as dedicating funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to water systems – even these steps are a drop in the bucket compared to what will be needed to close the gap.
“During these tough economic times our states need to be thinking, ‘we must not only spend scarce public dollars, it has to be on projects that grow the economy at large not just the bottom line for a handful of private corporations,’” said Sarah Holzgraf, Vermont Organizer for Corporate Accountability International. “Investment in public water is, in this respect, one of the wisest investments we can make.”
According to a U.S. Conference of Mayors report, every dollar invested in public water generates more than six for the economy at large in the long term.
For the full report visit www.StopCorporateAbuse.org/GettingStatesOffTheBottle
Source: CAI. 12.9.2009.
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