Bottled water is one of the most egregious offenses to the environment, and London is taking the lead to change consumer behavior where perfectly good tap water is available.
Bottles of water will no longer be served at British government meetings under a "tap water only" policy announced last week.
In addition, London Mayor Ken Livingstone last month urged London custormers to ask for tap water in restaurants, as opposed to bottled water, which is often flown thousands of miles from its source, creating a carbon footprint for a product that is available at the sink.
Bottled water also requires thousands of gallons of petroleum for the production of plastic bottles and results in unnecessary waste–both in landfills and the energy expended to recycle the bottles.
According to industry body the Bottled Water Information Office, the average Briton drinks 37.6 litres of bottled water each year, with six million litres drunk every day.
However, a backlash seems to be building in the capitol city, where government officials will return to using pitchers and glasses.
Reuters reported that caterers supplied 12,600 bottles of water for meetings at the environment and farming ministry alone in 2006, before it switched to tap water last year.
"The government is committed to sustainable operations across its estate and I have made this issue one of my key priorities for the civil service," Cabinet Secretary Gus O’Donnell said. "Today’s announcement is a small part of a much bigger programme of action in this area."
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