Lefty Paul’s group is trying to throw cold water on New York City’s drinking habits.
Under a new law, New York City government agencies will be prohibited from purchasing water in single-use plastic bottles for their more than 330,000 employees. law It was co-sponsored by City Councilman Eric Bottcher (D-Manhattan) and co-sponsored by Jumaane Williams and three other Democratic members of the public hearing.
The bill would prohibit cities from contracting with outside vendors to purchase individual bottles of water that hold less than one gallon, unless there is a public health emergency.
Bottcher claims that New York City’s tap water, which comes from the Catskill Mountains, is one of the best in the world, and city workers turn on faucets and hit office water coolers to quench their thirst. He added that he believes it should set an example for other parts of the Big Apple.
“Did you know that New York City tap water is bottled and sold over the counter?” Bottcher said. “meanwhile [New Yorkers] I drink bottled water from Fiji. ”
He added that the city buys more than 1 million single-use bottles of water annually for government agencies, while New Yorkers buy more than 742 million single-use bottles (approximately 21 million pounds) annually. It added that it was being disposed of.
during Thursday’s City Hall meeting. Williams and Bottcher sounded hopeful that the bill would test the waters to ban the use of single-use bottled water citywide.
“We have to make changes to stop what we’re doing becoming normalized, and that’s what this bill is about,” Williams said.
A representative for Mayor Eric Adams said his office would review the bill, but said the city is already encouraging city employees to lead by example and bring reusable water bottles to work. Ta.
The bill already has its critics.
City Councilmember João Arriola (R-Queens) agrees that “single-use plastics are a problem,” but calls the bill “government overreach” and “violates people’s right to choose.” ” he said.
“Not only does this limit options for city workers, but we also have to consider the impact of people delivering water bottles, working in bottling plants, etc. suddenly losing their jobs.”If we suddenly “Once we move to a program that relies on tap water,” she added.
