City bans water bottle sales, E.L. to consider

In an attempt to be more environmentally-friendly, Ann Arbor is one of the first cities in the nation to ban the selling of water bottles at city-sponsored events – something East Lansing has not yet considered.

The low number of water bottles recycled, the energy used to create plastic bottles and the high quality of the municipal’s water are several reasons for the ban, said John Hieftje, mayor of Ann Arbor.

“Most municipal water in Michigan is pretty darn good,” he said.

“Part of it is getting people to understand that water coming out of the tap is normally really, really good water — probably better-tasting than some of bottled water.”

An important reason to use municipal water is that Michigan water is being bottled and sent out of state, and it should remain in the Great Lakes Basin, Hieftje said.

The ban has been very successful, as the city sells a variety of reusable bottles, and also bottles its own water in plastic bottles to give away at some events in place of selling plastic water bottles, Hieftje said.

Using reusable bottles can also help people save money, because they don’t have to continually buy water bottles, he said.

A water-bottle ban has not been discussed in East Lansing, said Todd Sneathen, East Lansing’s director of public works.

“I can understand Ann Arbor’s rationale for doing that, (but) whether the reasons are appropriate at this point in time and the same for East Lansing, I’m not sure,” he said.

However, it may be something for the city to discuss in the future, as the city is looking at different ways to be more economically friendly.

A limited recycling center, which will accept paper-type products, will be opening at the East Lansing Public Schools Administrative Office, 841 Timberlane St., this week to provide a more convenient option for East Lansing residents, Sneathen said.

“You’d always like to see more recycling … but there’s a pretty significant number of people — we’ve seen (in the) high 70 percent of population using recycling services,” he said.

There are several 24-hour drop-off sites in East Lansing, including the Department of Public Works, 1800 E. State Road, and the intersection of Valley Court Park and Hillside Court, where residents can bring their recyclables, including plastic bottles.

Physiology senior Sean Donovan, former president of Eco, MSU’s environmental group, said he thinks the ban on selling water bottles is a great idea.

“I know students sometimes have a problem with the quality of water (in the dorms), but they can buy an infiltration system, and buy a reusable bottle and just use that,” he said.

However, Mary Dechow, chairwoman for the Michigan Recycling Partnership, said it is hard to change people’s habits on what they drink, and cities should instead focus on making recycling water bottles more convenient and accessible.

“Water bottles are extremely recyclable, and while you can stop the sale of them at events, you can’t control people bringing them themselves,” she said.

“Why not instead put forth some effort where they can be recycled?”

Hieftje doesn’t plan to stop at banning the selling of water bottles at city-sponsored events, though.

“Eventually, we’d like to see bottled water phase out in the whole city … but that’d be a more difficult legislative task,” he said.

Published on Monday, July 21, 2008