Most of our daily consumption of water happens on autopilot. Our bodies tell us we are thirsty. Then, we reach for bottled water. Drinking bottled water is a habit for most of us. But, switching from bottled water to bottled free water conserves natural and fiscal resources simultaneously, and is one of New York's early green initiatives.
The fiscal savings of switching to bottle free water drives New York's officials to wean government agencies off of bottled water. Currently, the cost of one (1) gallon of New York City tap water is only $0.0045 (not even as much as one penny!) and the cost of one (1) gallon of point-of-use filtered tap water is roughly $0.31 per gallon. But, the cost of bottled water is about $8 per gallon. With these cost savings in mind, in 2008 city council speaker Christine Quinn set to wean the council's staff off of its 6,000 annual single-serving bottle water habit in favor of the bottle free coolers that use filtered tap water.
In 2009, governor Paterson signed an executive order for state government agencies to eventually eliminate the use of single serving and large cooler sized bottles. In 2012, New York City's Department of Citywide Administrative Services' budget aims to cut spending of taxpayer's money on bottled water by $50,000 this year; and the Office of Management and Budget plans to continue that trend until at least 2015. Government agencies, corporations, and homeowners realize a significant savings in their annual drinking water budget by a switch to bottle free water.
Just as these cost savings drive the switch to bottle free water so too does the desire to reduce our carbon footprint and protect our landfills. Americans buy 29 billion plastic bottles of water every year of which almost 25 billion of these bottles end up in landfills where they stay over the next millennium as they slowly decompose.
Furthermore, 17 million barrels of oil are used every year to make the plastic for water bottles in the United States alone which raises our carbon footprint significantly. A switch from bottled water to bottle free water reduces collateral damage to the natural environment.
Culligan of New York works with many property managers, building owners, architects, schools, corporate offices, medical facilities, government agencies and private homeowners who want to incorporate filtered tap water solutions into their building initiatives. Culligan International is a global leader in water filtration and Culligan of New York is a privately held Culligan franchise servicing New York City and Long Island, New York.

Sandra Kraus is the president of Culligan
of New York and executive vice president Fred Smith Plumbing & Heating Co. Inc., New York, N.Y.
Tags: