Legislative Action

UK: Bottled water ban delights council leader

Posted: December 14, 2007

Islington Gazette. -

JUST minutes after banning bottled water from the town hall, Islington councillors treated themselves to a well-earned drinks reception - with bottled water.

The Liberal Democrat-controlled council voted to axe bottled water from council meetings and buildings as soon as possible - saying that the tap was good enough. The motion last week was proposed by leader Councillor James Kempton himself, who called on other boroughs, businesses and restaurants to follow his eco-friendly lead.

Councillor Kempton (Lib-Dem) said: "What sense does it make to have water shipped around the world to us in bottles when we can just turn on the tap?

"London's tap water is good, so to me bottled water is a mystery.

"This will save the council money, as buying water in bottles costs 500 times more.

"It's also a matter of the environmental damage caused by transporting bottled water, not to mention the production and disposal of the bottles.

"I'm proud that Islington is the greenest place in London, and I would urge all businesses and restaurants in Islington to serve tap water to their customers.

"I'm also calling on other councils and the Mayor [of London] to ensure that bottled water is not used in public buildings in this city."

But bottled water was then served at the post-meeting drinks reception.

Councillor James Murray, from the opposition Labour group, said: "James Kempton set himself up as the council's water bottle supremo, but he can't seem to get even that right. He's bottled it again!

"If Lib-Dem councillors want to tell their staff they can't have bottled water, then they should do the same when they hold drinks receptions in the town hall."

But Councillor Kempton hit back, saying: "The motion was worded to make it clear that the council isn't going to auction the remaining bottles on eBay or dump them.

"We are going to use what we have and then get rid of them. It was great that night - people helped us get rid of the last of them.

"It's not like we have a wine cellar full of water but obviously we do buy it in crates. We will get rid of it as quickly as possible.