A Liberal Democrat motion calling on the Council to stop buying bottled water for its meetings and offices and to use tap water instead was adopted last night by Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Councillor Sarah Bevan (Peasedown), who moved the motion, said:
       
“This motion was an initiative by the Liberal Democrat Group and we were delighted that it gained the support of Councillors from other Groups. The Council has established a principle against the purchase bottled water and can now move forward to look at the implementation of this motion.

“We have been working on this issue for several months and the adoption of this motion is very timely, given that within the last fortnight major campaigns have been launched encouraging people to drink tap water and ask for it in restaurants.

“The Council should not be spending public money on bottled water when we have perfectly good tap water, which is hundreds of times cheaper, does not need to be transported and does not need the packaging which must be recycled or ends up in landfill or as litter.

“Personally I find bottled water morally unacceptable. There are great concerns about the wider issues such the effect it has on the water systems of areas where bottling takes place and the marketing strategies of bottled water companies. Our Council has taken a lead on this issue, to do something practical locally and set an example.”

Councillors voted 32 in favour to 29 against the motion, sadly the Conservative Group did not support the final motion.

Notes:
-- Please see below the text of the motion.

Bottled water: Council notes that:

1.      Tap water in Bath and North East Somerset is safe to drink;

2.      Shipping bottled water increases carbon emissions and creates billions of glass and plastic bottles, which then require recycling or end up in landfill;

3.      Bottled water is unnecessary, tap water can be easily filtered, chilled and put into reusable containers, reducing waste, saving money and cutting carbon emissions;

Council resolves:

1.      To stop the use of bottled water in Bath and North East Somerset Council offices, and at Council meetings;

2.      To replace bottled water coolers in Bath and North East Somerset Council offices with water fountains where and when this option is both practical and financially viable;

3.      Where it is not practical or financially viable to install water fountains in Council offices the authority should supply water coolers which can be refilled with tap water or, as a last option, which are stocked by a supplier where all or part of the supplier’s profits contribute to clean water projects in the developing world (for example: Frank Water or Aquaid);

4.      To stop the use of disposable cups in Bath and North East Somerset Council offices, and at Council meetings;

5.      That the Leader of the Council will champion this, and work with the Council’s Sustainability Manager and facilities teams to make sure this happens as soon as is practicable.