Will your Mayor Think Outside the (water) Bottle?

[marmar]

from StopCorporateAbuse.org:


U.S. Conference of Mayors
Is your Mayor concerned about Bottled Water?

At this year’s U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting (June 22-26 in Los Angeles), San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Salt Lake City Mayor Ross “Rocky” Anderson, and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak will introduce a resolution that highlights the importance of municipal water and scrutinizes the impact of bottled water on city waste. Click here to read the resolution.

Click here to find out if your Mayor will be at the meeting.

Over the past decade there has been an explosion in the bottled water market, fueled by the hundreds of millions of dollars bottled water corporations like Coke, Nestlé and Pepsi spend on advertising every year. These corporations are changing the way that people think about water. Today, three of four people in the U.S. drink bottled water, even though U.S. water systems are much better regulated than bottled water.

Growth in the bottled water market not only undermines public confidence in the government’s ability to provide basic serves, but it also increases municipal government waste disposal costs. Last year, at least four billion pounds of plastic bottles ended up in city waste streams. It can cost cities more than $70 million in disposal fees, not including the costs of collection, trucking and litter removal.

This resolution calls for a study of the impact of bottled water on city waste. It also places the political will of mayors behind supporting full funding of municipal water and is a critical first step toward keeping our public water systems strong.

Our "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign challenges the marketing muscle and political power of bottled water corporations. It’s part of our larger Campaign Challenging Corporate Control of Water. For more on our campaign click here.

Will your Mayor be at the Conference? Click here to find out and send your mayor the email below:

Send this letter to your Mayor

Dear Mayor:

This week the U.S. Conference of Mayors is meeting in Los Angeles. The mayors of San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Minneapolis will introduce resolution #90 (Importance of Municipal Water). This resolution highlights the importance of municipal water and scrutinizes the impact of bottled water on city waste.

The growth in the bottled water market not only undermines public confidence in the government's ability to provide basic services, but it also increases municipal goverment waste disposal costs. This resolution places the political will of mayors behind full funding of municipal water and is a critical first step toward keeping our public water systems strong. I hope that you will support this effort.

Thank you for your attention and please let me know how you voted on this resolution.

Sincerely,



http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/cms/page1523.cfm