Water in the City

WRITTEN BY ALINE FADER

In case anyone missed it, San Francisco banned water bottles smaller than 21 ounces from City-owned property in the spring, which is pretty amazing.

New York City, in spite of the previous Mayor’s attacks on more sugary drinks, has not gone so far, but has been using more of a carrot approach to try to get people to start drinking from water fountains, and to forgo the bottles. Brooklyn (I am happy to say) is the borough with the most drinking fountains, according to the EDC, in case you were wondering. Although Brooklyn is no Rome, which is my favorite City when it comes to delicious, cold and abundant drinking fountains.

It would be nice to see a carrot + stick approach, and I hope that cities start moving towards both more public fountains and restricting bottled water.

And remember, water should not be wasted, so remember to get caps for the fire hydrants should the heat drive you to open them. In New York City, you just have to ask the local fire house for them, police precincts might have them too.