New York City Marketing its Own Tap Water

The City of New York has embarked on a $700,000 advertising campaign marketing its own tap water to city residents.

The goal of the campaign is to decrease the number of people who buy bottled water - reducing waste and saving residents hundreds of dollars annually the city says.

The marketing campaign will occur during the month of July and feature 1,400 glossy ads in subways and bus kiosks combined with radio and other ads.

According to environmental groups, four out of five plastic water bottles end up on landfill sites and the production process contributes to global warming.  As featured in the current issue of Fast Company, the distribution process of bottled water brands like Fiji involves shipping water halfway around the world.

New York City is one of five cities in the nation that has a federal waiver not to filter its water because it's so fresh and safe to drink.

Comments

[Beth Terry]

We stopped buying bottled water, but now my problem is finding an environmentally responsible water filter to take out the chlorine. Brita filters are encased in plastic which is non-recyclable and gets tossed into a landfill after every 100 gallons.

I've been trying to get info on other alternatives, but I may just start drinking my water straight out of the tap. Is that a bad idea?

[Dana]

I've been drinking water out of the taps for years and have never encountered any problems.