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News & ArtsThursday, October 14, 2010
Politics Worried About the Tax on Bottled Water?
Posted by Eli Sanders on Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 2:23 PM
The case for not worrying about Washington's tax on bottled water is right here, but if you're super riled up about this tax and can't wait until November to do something about it, well, you can always follow the lead of Seattle University, which just announced in a press release:
Today, Seattle University became the first college or university in the state of Washington to go bottled-water free. The university has removed bottled water from vending machines, concession stands, the campus bookstore, on-campus restaurants and catering.The move was spurred by students concerned about the social and environmental impacts of bottled water. Seattle University students spent the last three years working in partnership with university administrators to eliminate bottled water campuswide.
A side-benefit, of course, is that no matter what happens in November, students in search of water on the Seattle University campus will no longer be paying the bottled water tax. I think maybe—just maybe—even our intern Matt would approve of this tax-dodging solution.
1
I wish the UW would take up this challenge.
But i don't see much bottled water here - we're already carbon-neutral.
But i don't see much bottled water here - we're already carbon-neutral.
2
shit like that is so irritating. people aren't going to forego buying something to drink because there's no bottled water in the cooler. they'll just get soda or juice or whatever, thereby reducing plastic consumption by exactly zero. and getting more calories than they would have gotten if they'd gotten bottled water. stupid. (for the record, i also think bottled water is stupid. that's why we have drinking fountains, and why i carry a nalgene a lot of the time. but if you're stuck somewhere - like at school for 10 hours a day - and you need something to drink, buying a bottle of water is sometimes necessary. and it's incredibly irritating when you're forced to get soda, because some idiot took out all the water)
3
"no matter what happens in November, students in search of water on the Seattle University campus will no longer be paying the bottled water tax."
Except for games at Husky Stadium, which a 16oz bottle costs 6$.
Except for games at Husky Stadium, which a 16oz bottle costs 6$.
5
It's not...I'm sitting in a classroom at SU right now and on break I can buy Vitamin Water, but not bottled water. Fail.
7
I buy a LOT of bottled water. I'll stop when I move back to somewhere where the tap water isn't cloudy.
9
I'm glad Seattle U has taken this step - in many places, phasing out bottled water has actually helped make public drinking water more accessible, as schools and institutions have invested in better drinking fountains, with refillable spouts, and other innovations...cheers!
10
Good work, Seattle U! Great move for the environment, democracy, and public health...Finally someone is recognizing that bottled water corporations are simply manufacturing demand for an essential resource that already flows freely from our taps. Sure hope the state of WA and other universities are paying attention to this....
11
The point here is to reduce plastic waste And to make a point to the bottled water companies that it is not ok to turn a precious resource into a commodity. There are millions of people without clean drinking water, and the bottled water companies are the main contributors to the polution problem in regards to plastic. Buy a water filter and bottle your own water. How hard is that to do!? Have you seen the documentary film called "Tapped"? If not, get it and get informed!
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