S.F. mayor bans bottled water at city offices

Global warming and saving taxpayer money cited as reasons

INTERACTIVE

Carbon calculator
Wonder how much carbon dioxide you're responsible for on your commutes? Our map-based calculator will give you a pretty good idea, and get you started on a diet.

Slide shows

AP	Warming signals View images from around the world that show signs of global warming.
Reuters	Ice at the edge View images of Greenland, where coastal edges of its vast ice cap are melting at an alarming rate.

Interactives

	Vital Signs of a Warming World The science, impacts and scenarios of climate shifts
	Carbon trade game Learn how "cap and trade" works and play along in a simulated market.
	Rising seas What future sea levels could mean for some of America's favorite places
	The greenhouse effect How the Earth maintains a temperature conducive to life
	Cooling the planet Check out five far-out ideas on how to engineer a cooler Earth.
	Eyeing the ice The National Science Foundation's Tom Wagner on why climate expert study Antarctica.
	Melting mountains Data shows five areas of concern

Most popular

• Most viewed

• Top rated

• Most e-mailed

Ten cars that brought down Detroit

Young hunter who killed hiker gets 30 days

Looking for love, 650-pound virgin loses 410

Passengers flee 747 after smoke fills cabin

8 ways the food industry can hijack your brain

Most viewed on msnbc.com

updated 11:55 a.m. ET June 25, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO - Is city water better than bottled water? San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom thinks so.

Newsom has issued an executive order banning city departments from buying bottled water, even for water coolers. The ban goes into effect July 1, and will extend to water coolers by Dec. 1.

The move was billed as a way to help stem global warming and save taxpayer money.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

More than 40 million gallons of oil are needed to make the plastic water bottles Americans purchase each year, according to data cited in the mayor's announcement. Like other uses of fossil fuels, the process of making plastic bottles releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that most scientists tie to global warming.

NBC video
Cap on bottled water
June 24: Is tap water the wave of the future? NBC's Michael Okwu reports.
Nightly News
"We're hoping to set the example for the private sector and other cities in getting off the bottle," said Tony Winnicker, spokesman for the San Francisco public utilities commission.

In a press release announcing the decision, the mayor cited the environmental impact of making, transporting and disposing of the bottles. More than a billion of them end up in the state's landfills each year, the release said.

When the ban goes into effect, city and county offices will dispense municipal tap water from a reservoir. Winnicker said exceptions will be made in cases where potable water is not easily available or poses health concerns.