Bottled water purchases by state agencies will be banned under an executive order being signed today by Gov. David A. Paterson.
With his poll numbers still plummeting, Paterson has been popping out an array of proposals in the past couple weeks to win back political friends who could help his election chances next year.
The following was just released by Albany:
Governor David A. Paterson today signed an Executive Order to phase out New York State’s purchase and use of bottled water at State agency facilities. This announcement, made by the Governor at “Earth Day Lobby Day” in Albany, marks another important step New York State is taking to improve the environment while simultaneously saving taxpayer dollars. Today’s actions make New York the second state in the country to eliminate the purchase and use of bottled water.
The Executive Order will phase out the expenditure of State funds for the purchase of single serve bottles and larger, cooler-sized bottles for water consumed at State agency facilities. The measure requires each executive agency to develop and implement a plan to phase out expenditures for bottled water and provide alternative water sources such as ordinary tap water fountains and dispensers.
“Taxpayers have spent billions of dollars to ensure that we have clean drinking water supplies,” said Governor Paterson. “If we are going to make such significant investments, we should reap the benefits and use that water. Our efforts will serve as an example for local governments, businesses and residents to follow.”
Under the Executive Order, each agency plan is required to lay out the specific actions and policies that will be undertaken to achieve compliance with the Order; assess the capability of existing facilities to provide tap water for consumption in place of bottled water; identify reasonable improvements that can be made to ensure reasonable access to tap water for consumption; and describe the steps the agency will take to avoid new contractual commitments to purchase bottled water.
The Order also requires the Office of General Services to monitor agency compliance with the Order and identify agency constraints to compliance; identify options to make tap water available to patrons free of charge at food service establishments on State facilities as a choice in lieu of purchasing bottled water; and seek additional opportunities to transition from the use of bottled water to tap water at State facilities.
Bottled water is wasteful and requires large amounts of energy to bottle and transport. Over 450 million gallons of oil are used to transport water from bottling plants to stores. In the United States, plastic water bottle manufacturing uses 17 million barrels of oil, producing over 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution. Eighty percent of these bottles, which are equal to four billion pounds, end up in garbage incinerators or landfills.
New York has an abundance of tap water for consumption. Three out of four people drink bottled water on a regular basis even though many bottled water products are often just filtered tap water. In addition, for each gallon of water that goes into a plastic bottle, two gallons of water are used to make the plastic bottles and to filter the water.
(Dov Gordon – YWN)
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4 Responses
1.Since when does New York have undrinkable tap water?
2. Since when does the government pay for fancy water (where I work, employees chip in to order a premium water service, if they are too “hashuv” to drink plebian water).
3. and this will balance the budget – just how much do civil servants drink? — has New York been engaging in affirmative action for fish??????
I am a state worker. We have no tap water except for the sinks in the bathroom. Is Patterson going to give us a sink?
The problem is not with the water itself. Most water supplies in New York State are frequently tested and the results are always positive.
The problem is many state offices are in old buildings with very old pipes.
When clean water comes through old, rusted, sediment filled pipes, no matter how clean the water is it is still going to acquire a horrendous metallic taste. That is why many people working in older buildings use the bottled water.
Can we set aside a few dollars in the budget to buy Paterson a clue? You’d think as someone who worked in regular state office buildings for years he would know this. You’d think.
#1. As recent of this very past Pesach, the Blumenkrantz book warned about noticeable parasites in NY drinking water.
Incidentally, tap water allowances for arsenic, chlorine, flouride, fecal matter, etc., far exceeds what MAY be found in certain brands of bottled water. Therefore, prohibiting bottled water is really creating a health hazard for employees.