SYRACUSE -- Governor David Paterson has issued an executive order to all state facilities to stop buying bottled water, but SUNY Upstate Hospital is taking it a step further. Eventually Upstate wants vendors to stop selling bottled water entirely. Gary Kittell says it's an environmental issue. "There's a tremendous use of fossil fuels and emissions of carbon associated with creating bottled water."
Governor Paterson's office claims 450 million gallons of oil are used to transport water from bottling plants to stores, that plastic water bottle manufacturing uses 17 million barrels of oil, and 4 billion pounds of plastic ends up in incinerators or landfills. Paterson also points out the state has already spent billions of dollars to improve its municipal water systems.
At Upstate, people will be encouraged to use tap water as an alternative to bottled water. Staff and visitors will be able to purchase reusable bottles and fill them at water fountains equipped with extra filtration.
Visitors we talked with want to be able to choose. Chris Burrows sees the restrictions as "an infringement on our rights."
Nona Altman says she would "rather have a bottle... than drink out of a fountain."
Tom Lauria of the International Bottled Water Association in Virginia, says "Many people with immune system problems and or cancer are ordered by their doctors to drink only bottled water." He adds, "The Centers for Disease Control estimates 19 million people annually suffer gastrointestinal problems due to tap water".
On November 8th, New York State will be able to impose a nickel deposit on bottled water by including it in the state's "bottle bill." The original five cent deposit surcharge on containers under one gallon was supposed to go into effect on November 1, but on Tuesday the State Department of Environmental Conservation granted a "grace period" to give retailers time to enact the new requirement.
The Food Industry Alliance of New York State says the state's 21,000 food stores need the extra time to reprogram cash registers and bottle return machines.
