Bottled Water City Tax Proposed by Chicago Alderman

by Missy on Wednesday, August 15th, 2007

An Alderman in Chicago wants to propose a city tax on bottled water, 5 cents on a pint bottle and 20 cents on the gallon jugs. Recent studies show that “most bottled water originates at public water supplies” and Alderman George Cardenas from Chicago’s 12th ward, states that “big corporations are using this commodity, this precious resource, bottling it and selling it back to us, perhaps at 50 percent profit.”

The mayor of Chicago, Mayor Daley, supports the proposed city tax for both financial reasons and for environmental reasons. He states their is too much plastic in our lives.

Will a city tax deter bottled water drinkers from consuming and purchasing Evian, Aquafina, or any of the dozen or more branded water bottles?

Weigh-in on the comments section below.

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Tags: alderman_in_chicago, aquafina, Bottled Water, bottled_water, branded_water_bottles, chicago_mayor_daley, city_tax, Conservation, environmental_reasons, gallon_jugs, Green Events, Green News, mayor_of_chicago, pint_bottle, plastic, Politics, precious_resource, public_water_supplies

Categories: Bottled Water, Conservation, Green Events, Green News, Politics, plastic.

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Garrett

good question...the price will have to jump dramatically to change behavior. you can buy bulk water at any grocery store or warehouse store for under $10. and its apparently the freshest water you can find. so, price will still have to climb a bit before people stop buying bottled water. heck, i have seen people pay $3 or $4 for bottled water at sporting events and outdoor activities...5 cents on $3 or $4 dollars...no biggie.

Missy

hey, garrett: i dont think it will deter the hard core bottle drinkers. but what some folks fail to realize is that they are paying a premium for what basically amounts to tap water. so many bottle manufacturers are owning up to the fact that their so called spring water is not so springy after all. (but from public water supplies)

kATE

But it's not just tap water. Most of these companies purify the water before bottling it. Aquafina, for example, says on their website that they put the water through a 7-step purification process that includes reverse osmosis.

You cannot always rely on your tap water being that clean and pure after traveling through city pipes and your home's pipes. And some cities have algae, chlorine and lead problems in their municipal water. Yes, when you are at home you can put a filter on your tap. But what about when you are out running errands and already finished what was in your Nalgean bottle? I still enjoy the convenience of that and don't think that tax is really fair. If they can tax that, what's next? Anything with packaging that is not completely environmentally friendly? ...that list would include a lot of products.

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