(a town in) Massachusetts bans bottled water

Man, I'd love to read that story from a balanced perspective. Next the town needs to ban plastic bottles all together. Or even glass bottles. Those all take up room in landfills. Then, after that, let's move on to fountain drinks. Gotta get rid of all those paper and plastic cups that will be taking up room in the trash piles. Guess that means no more NRG slurpees either. Why not ban trash all together? No more trash in Concord. If you can't bury it in the earth in an environmentally safe manner, then you can't have it.

So no, Kate. I won't be the next Chewer in line to try to get my state to ban bottled water. I figure there are more important things for my government to worry about than telling me what I am allowed to drink.

It's not the government's job to control the vessel from which I drink my water. The government has no right to micromanage our lives in that manner. If I choose to buy a bottle of water, that should be my right.

Finally, someone realizes that bottled water is just the second part of the communist water fluorization plan.
Defend your precious american fluids, people!

Couldn't she have just opened a recycling center?

*checks the padlocks on the fridges filled with jars of his semen, racks a round into his rifle*

Sort of devil's advocate but if a bottling company bottled their water in massively cancer-causing packaging you don't think the government's job is to regulate that?

So it tastes like seal shit and eskimo piss?

No thanks.

Only a communist would dare suggest the government should deprive me of my freedom to purchase chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Hasn't stopped the tobacco industry. Matter of fact, the government has used the opportunity to make more money in taxes*. I haven't really kept track since I quit, but are there any less people smoking overall than there were 10 years ago?


*I've always had mixed feelings on this, on one hand it's a "wanna fuck yourself up, we'll make more money off you" tax, on the other hand, even though I don't smoke anymore and think its gross, I wouldn't want the government to eliminate it (not that they ever would).

You're aware that knowingly consuming a product that has been demonstrated to cause cancer costs the state and its constituents money when you receive treatment down the line, yes? The taxes associated with those products don't really "make money" off of you so much as they offset those costs to the society.

As far as bottled water is concerned, not only is there the issue that plastics are made from petrol, which adds somewhat to the energy crisis, but the bottles also don't magically disappear when someone throws them away. They end up somewhere. That could be the ocean, where they add to the mountains of plastic in the ocean and make their way into the food chain when consumed by aquatic life, which introduces the bad byproducts into the larger food chain. Conversely, it could find its way into a landfill, where the bad byproducts find their way into the water table.

The argument against product regulation is just bad. If you take the stance that you're a "classical liberal," it's important to recognize the Mill and the other actually classical liberals recognized that liberty ends when your actions demonstrably affect other persons.

I wonder how much of the money spent on this legislative effort could have gone on third-world mosquito nets instead.

From an environmentalist perspective, this is pretty good.

Remember the days when bottled water wasn't even around?

Oh, how did we ever survive those dark ages?!

Plastic bottles are a mess, but I think they should prioritize and go after other beverages first that aren't WATER.

I really like the machines that will give you a gallon of purified water for a quarter(just fill up a jug). Saw them in LA in 2001, I guess they still exist. They should be everywhere.

Yes, but what is "demonstrably?" Is it carcinogenic bottles, is it pollution-emitting cars, is it sugary drinks, smoking tobacco, e-cigarettes, salty foods, fatty foods, processed foods, fake-organic food, alcohol?

Of course it's great for the environment and this won't cause any sort of revolution, but there is an unnerving element of "this is bad for you...so it's banned," in this. More about treating symptoms than curing the disease.

To take it another direction...

Does the government have the right to trample all over your enthusiasm for just dumping your used grease/oil all over the ground rather than disposing of it through the proper channels?

"Sure, I know full well that my love for just dumping my used fryin' grease all into my backyard is not good practice, but goddamnit, that's my RIGHT! Stay out, big government."

If the bottles are in fact bad for the environment (they are), then why shouldn't the government look into ways to fix that problem?

Why not go for drinks that aren't WATER?!

Granted, I don't think they should go after any of it. Increase recycling. Bottles and cans are worth so much in some places that you rarely see litter. It's nice. And not in the US, of course.

Bottled water is one of the greatest fucking scams in human history.

Anybody else get a massive kick out of this?

People just need to buy a freaking Brita..

I kinda did Ryan. Didn't wanna derail the thread, though. Most people on other message boards call me KFC, cause it's easier than most of the alternatives.

I'm all for increasing recycling, perhaps even giving extra to those that recycle plastic bottles, but just flat out banning bottled water seems to be a bit much. Also, water isn't the only thing stored in plastic bottles. What are the incidences of health issues arising purely from plastic bottles in other drinks? Will the city ban those as well?

Clean it often.

Must....remember...new...rules...resist...urge.... ..to....


There are many alternatives available in regards to water filtration Princess Kate. A trip to your local plumbing store, big box retailer or a quick Google Search could probably solve your mildew/germ problem.

save the plastic water bottles, drink scotch!

True, but if people exercised common sense when it came to using their money, we would have virtually no economy.

You know, as in how it's easier to spend $8 on one restaurant burrito, versus making six comparable ones at home for the same money?

Free water from your tap, right in your own kitchen? That's too easy, and they wouldn't be selling water in bottles if it wasn't better than the free tap water, no?

Poor impulse buys are what drive our economy.

That's not a great analogy. Yes, I can make a burrito cheaper at home but will it taste the same as one that I've come to enjoy at a Qdoba or a far more upscale eatery? Do I have the same ingredients, the same level of skill as a chef, can I even fold the fucker properly?!

Bottled Water is, 99% of the time, the same as out of my tap with an extra level of filtration *maybe*. Replicating that 8 dollar burrito would take time, skill and a level of knowledge that I probably don't possess. Replicating that bottle of water? Far more simple and, over time, cost effective.

I hear this argument all the time. We have a filtered water system at work that we try to get people to use instead of having us order ten cases of water every other week, and all I hear is, "Oh, but the dispensers are out in the air, it's unsanitary." Folks, it ain't like the bottled water is being kept in this pristine sterile environment before you drink it either.

The only time I buy a bottle of water is if my current bottle gets too beat up from me idly tossing it around while I use it as a tap water container.

Seriously, the idea of purchasing water in a bottle on a daily basis is one that baffles me to no end. It's financial masochism, buying something that you've already paid for with no difference in quality.

I was under the impression that it's not good to keep reusing plastic bottles that were used for bottled water.

The canteen types are designed for reuse.

Good point. Okay, for ME, I CAN make that kickass burrito at home....so that is MY example. YOU have something YOU can do on your own, and better and cheaper too. A lot of things actually. But you probably don't. You could argue about the factor of convenience, which is fine, but a great deal of consumer spending is based on impulse and things we don't even really want to begin with.

All packaging takes up landfill space. It's odd that they're so narrowly focused on ONE beverage in ONE kind of packaging.

THIS! I drink pretty much nothing but tap water at home. Only reason I have any unused/unopened bottles is for guests. For me it's from the big gallon Zephyrhills jug that I keep refilling, and a couple big squeeze bottles that were formerly from bottled water that I purchased, in which I refill and take to the gym or wherever I know I'll get thirsty.

I had heard this too, but after googling "reusing plastic watter bottles" I believe it's an urban myth:

http://www.plasticsinfo.org/s_plasti...D=705&DID=2839

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/plasticbottles.asp

Never can be sure, but I'm going with it for now.

Hmm, I guess it's mostly that the reusable ones are easier to clean, hence easier to keep free of bacteria and other nasty stuff.

I see what you're saying in regards to impulse buying and I agree with you in that regard but bottled water isn't the same as a Dr. Pepper or a Nestle Crunch bar waiting for you in the grocery checkout line. We've been convinced that bottled water is somehow "better" than tap water and to pay for it while having a significant environmental impact apparently.

Which is why I called it the greatest scam in human history. The second greatest would be paying for parking. Build me a time machine so I can find the bastard who came up with that bright idea and punch him square in the cock and/or vagina.

Good for Concord.

I consider the selling of drinking water to be pretty much fraud, so the International Bottled Water Association can go screw. "But Seabass," you say, "what about travellers in Mexico or Africa or other such places where the water can be dicey?" Good point. I'd rather drink water than pop, especially in places like that. There are a few solutions to that problem, but none so convenient as opening a bottle.

But the water in Massachusetts is fine, so good for Concord.

I liked this comment in the article:

Agreed. I was lumping on with a side tangent on the general ignorance/laziness of the consumer, but I don't want to take any more thunder away from your initial point on how bottled water is in a special level of scam reserved for only the worst of consumables.

I've never been convinced of anything in support of bottled water, but I'm an old-timer and have seen the circus of marketing and know the power of the bs.

Water may be free from the tap, but some city water tastes like crap.

That rhymes. Feel free to use those lyrics in a commercial, International Bottled Water Assoc. Your welcome.

Or smells like crap, or has rust in it from bad pipes, etc. I think the idea of bottled water is retarded, but I've been too many places in the US where the town/city/well water has been awful.

If I'm on a road trip, I'd rather buy a bottle of water at the gas station than a soda or energy drink. I think it's ridiculous that anyone passing through this town would be able to buy a pack of smokes, a Slim Jim, and a Yoo-Hoo, but fuck you if you want water.

They've been "treating" the water here in Indianapolis... Tap water tastes like you're drinking pool water. I can't stand it. So I have a Brita...works just fine.

My fridge filters water, and I keep a two-quart Britta thingie cold in there too. Amazingly, I have somehow managed to stave off dehydration.

This shit, at times, makes me insane with rage. Mainly when it's a lot that's usually free and open, but when there's an event nearby those parasite motherfuckers come out and set up shop and take over the lot. I mainly get pissed because I can't tell if these assholes are legit and affiliated with whoever owns the property, or if they're just the first scabs to show up there with some signs and rope. A lot of the time I'll drive around for 10 extra minutes, or walk a bit further to get the free parking... just to not have to give these assholes any money.