TapIt video
Originally uploaded by TapIt Water
See how easy it is to refill your water bottle at a TapIt location.
March 2009 Archives
TapIt video
Originally uploaded by TapIt Water
If you haven't seen un-bottled water for sale yet, get ready - it seems to be the latest trend in H2O marketing. Manufacturers want to find alternatives to plastic water bottle packaging so they can say they're selling a "greener" drink.
The newest addition? Boxed Water Is Better, which is nothing more than carbon-filtered Minnesota tap water packaged in a simple white gable-top carton. So is this boxed water really better than bottled water?
Well, a carton made from 90 percent paper certainly sounds better than a plastic bottle. But the problem is, even though you can recycle gable-tops in New York City, you can't in many other cities including Grand Rapids, Michigan, which just happens to be the only place this boxed water is sold! Meanwhile, those nasty plastic water bottles are widely accepted for recycling across the U.S. The same recycling conundrum is true for two other boxed options Aqua2Go and Plant it Water.
The creators of Boxed Water is Better realize their product isn't perfect, but say they're trying to take a sustainable step in the right direction and plan to keep looking for better ways to provide portable water. Our advice? Refill your bottle at restaurants and cafes in the TapIt Water network. And if you want to continue the debate, Elizabeth Royte, author of Bottlemania: How Water Went On Sale and Why We Bought It, takes an in-depth look at three boxed water options on her blog.
This photo is not from Ohio, but instead was a fountain display in Philadelphia and is courtesy of Chris from Flickr.
Most of the time, we TapIt folks are all about filling up reusable water bottles with free tap water! However, if the water is running colorful instead of clear, as was the case in Ohio last weekend, we would have to agree that bottled water is the way to go.
Imagine the confused looks of Lake County, Ohio residents as they filled up bathtubs, tea kettles, and water glasses with pink water on Saturday night. Turns out, there was a chemical feeder problem at the municipal water plant releasing too much potassium permanganate into the H2O. Potassium permanganate is a chemical that is used to remove bad taste and odors in water, and when overused, apparently yields a rosy shade of pink.
While pink water can't be healthy to consume, it was probably quite exciting for the kids.
Gottino in the West Village partnered with TapIt as a part of it's eco-friendly transition this week. A year and a half into their existence, they are taking great measures to be an environmentally responsible eatery. They hired Max Poglia, a green designer, who is revamping the place. Gottino offers organic wines; uses real cork instead of environmentally-harmful alternatives; and, of course, serves tap water to avoid those wasteful plastic bottles. Ask at the counter to refill your bottle with their filtered tap water.
Find out more about Gottino at their blog, 'I Love Gottino', featuring a new post about TapIt.
The Dutch ice cream and chocolate maker, Australian Homemade has added it's two New York cafes to the TapIt network. Australian Homemade has become popular for its ice cream around the world, boasting locations on 3 continents. Drop in for a delicious treat and fill up your bottle with some great New York tap water.Rochester’s NBC affiliate, 10NBC, announced yesterday that NY State lawmakers have decided to put a 5 cent deposit on bottled water in this year's budget. Right now, deposits apply only to cans and bottles of carbonated drinks. Adding bottled water is expected to add $118 million to the State's coffers.
In November, Chicago became the first city in the U.S to add a deposit on bottled water. It applies to bottled water sold within city limits and is expected to raise $10.5 million dollars this year. Florida is debating two ways of helping to plug its $6.5 billion budget gap using bottled water as a source of revenue. Governor Charlie Crist wants to impose a 6 cent per-gallon fee on water drawn from municipal systems, which would bring in $59.8 million. But Dasani in Jacksonville is screaming ‘financial stress’, ‘shut down plant’ and ‘job loss’ so the per-gallon fee may not happen. What may take its place is a repeal of the sales tax exemption that bottled water currently enjoys, which costs the state an estimated $42.3 million per year.
If the NY State bill is passed, New Yorkers will finally get some encouragement to switch to tap water. I would prefer a 10 cent deposit to send a stronger message to consumers and leave a little over for water infrastructure, but 5 cents is a good start. The deposit will help to reduce the number of plastic bottles that end up in landfills and the State’s Environmental Protection Fund gets 80 percent of unclaimed deposits to shore up its reserves. Let’s hope our lawmakers can do the right thing for the environment and turn a deaf ear to Coca-Cola’s threats to remove its bottling plants from NY State if the deposit bill passes.
Tea & Sympathy on Greenwich Avenue in the West Village has joined the TapIt Network. Tea & Sympathy prides itself for being the place to go for anything British. So, whether you need a box of PG Tips or a refill of refreshing tap water, this is the place to go.
Dasani, owned by Coca-Cola, has been promising to identify its water source - municipal tap! - on product labels for over a year now. And the same goes for Pepsi’s Aquafina. Think Outside the Bottle, a campaign helmed by Boston-based consumer advocate Corporate Accountability International, have continued to pressure both companies to do so, but to no avail. There’s no law holding them accountable. Argh! Let’s hope Lisa Jackson, Obama’s new pick to head the EPA, will create incentives to oblige these companies to tell consumers the truth. Maybe they could be forced to also include the how many million barrels of oil are annually used to just produce their plastic bottles. I can see it now - blue and red states unifying to regulate this greedy business, and save our precious oil reserves!
Tap’d New York is a company that sells bottled New York City tap water and mock-boasts on its bottles: “No glaciers were harmed making this water.” Its manifesto promotes the drinking of tap water whenever possible, but recommends as well that one buy local tap bottled water when tap isn’t convenient. Well, that may be a better solution than buying water from Fiji or France (if we can even trust such claims anymore), its not as good as TapIt’s plan to do away with the manufacture of bottled water altogether. Its the takeaway, throwaway mentality that Tap’d water clearly still assumes that’s at issue. We just don’t need any more “packaged” solutions to the “convenience” problems, which seem equally manufactured. Why create more plastic waste on this planet? Is it impossible to imagine a world where buying individual-sized, single-use portions of food or water no longer exists? I don’t think so. But people will need to let go of this ludicrous, unsustainable notion of constant on-the-go consumption. So much of what we already purchase at the supermarket and drugstore consists of products we could do without or get in bulk. Sure there are places like Costco, but they require a car to get there, and promote the sort of suburban excess that says we need six different bags of snacks in the house at all times. We need to use our purchasing power to exact the “less is more” mentality of yore, I think. Which means refusing to buy products in wasteful packaging AND choosing to buy less!
If you've made a habit of carrying your own refillable water bottle and visiting TapIt locations when you're thirsty, you're already making a green choice that saves you money. Because aside from the conservation benefits of choosing tap water, your drink is free. You can see an estimate of how much money you're saving by using the Bottled Water Cost Calculator. For example, if you used to buy one bottle per day, you probably spent $546.77! Other planet-friendly moves can be wallet-friendly, too. Here, four more ways to save green by going green.
Reacquaint yourself with the library: Visit a NYPL branch for your next read. You won't have to shell out $10+ when you share books with other New Yorkers and you'll save trees as well as energy costs due to manufacturing and shipping.
Invest in reusable shopping bags: You'll reduce plastic grocery bag consumption and get paid for it if you shop at the right stores: Food Emporium gives 2 cents per bag, Whole Foods credits you 10 cents per bag and Trader Joe's gives you a ticket for their weekly gift certificate raffle.
Carry your own cup: Help support your Starbucks Coffee habit by bringing your own mug. You'll get a 10 cent discount--not a lot, but every penny counts with their outrageous prices--and you're reducing paper cup waste at the same time.
Get smart about electricity: The next time a light bulb burns out, replace with it with an energy-efficient CFL bulb. For every incandescent to CFL switch you'll save energy and about $30 a year on your electricity bill. Plus, they'll last up to 10 times longer. Another bright idea? Invest in power strips. When plugged into a wall, many electronics use 25% of their power even while they're turned off. Plug your stuff into power strips and turn the entire thing off when not in use. You'll save $1 a month for each power strip.
Launched in 1992, Amy's Bread has three locations in NYC selling mouthwatering breads and baked goods. Refill your bottle before your leave and wash down their wonderful fare with great tasting NYC tap water!
Aside from choosing tap water over bottled water you can make another green statement this Saturday, March 28 during Earth Hour. Switch off your lights for one hour at 8:30 pm to join the global sustainability movement.
The Earth Hour event originally started in Sydney where 2.2 million homes went dark for an hour in 2007. Now, it has spread to NYC and around the globe. This year's goal? One billion participants worldwide. Even the Empire State Building and Egypt's Sphinx and Great Pyramids of Giza will go dark!
This year, the organization says that turning your lights off is a vote for Earth and leaving them on is a vote for global warming. Here at TapIt we feel the same way about water. Filling up your water bottle at a TapIt Water location is a vote for Earth and buying bottled water is like a vote for global warming. Sign up now to make your powerless hour count.
Want to see if there are any contaminants in your state’s tap water? Go to The Environmental Working Group’s web site where you can click on a map of the U.S. and find out! The studies informing this resource include over 39751 water utilities in 42 states, giving you a reliable litmus test for the drinking water safety of your town or city. Sadly, some municipalities like the Big Apple have yet to offer up their water testing data in electronic form (to EWG, anyway). Oi, the bureaucratic disaster that is New York City!
Photo Credit: Boston Herald Blog
Yesterday's Wall Street Journal reported on a story that has had beauty fiends, germaphobes, and animal-rights folks in a frenzy for months : for $35 at Yvonne's Spa in Alexandria, VA spa-goers can indulge in a pedicure featuring cuticle-eating fish. With about 100 Doctor fish (or garra rufa) in each individual pedicure tank, the treatment yields the same smooth skin result that a razor and cuticle trimmer would and feeds the little critters as well. Most customers love the results and describe the painless process as "ticklish."
The story has reemerged as Virginia lawmakers consider banning the pedicure because all mani/pedi tools are supposed to be discarded or sanitized after use. Legislators are also concerned about the water safety and residual sanitation issues. While fourteen others states have already banned the treatment, salons claim they drain and refill the plexiglass tanks before each new customer, and that water is as clean as can be.
In terms of environmental impact, the resource use in this treatment seems far less wasteful than other spa offerings - like Evian pedicures. At least the fish are swiming in Tap H20!
Female hormones in bottled water? Ugh. Yet another reason to stop wasting money on the stuff. Sure, there’s been findings of mood stabilizers and sex hormones in drinking water, too (San Fran, in particular), but why pay for the chance to consume these contaminants? If these unfortunate byproducts of our pharmaceutical age are indeed inescapable, let’s consider who we can trust to deal with them. As I mentioned last week, the likelihood of private, profit-based companies to seriously address this issue is a lot less probable than municipalities (or the EPA ) whose mission is public safety. Go tap!
Enjoy some of the best cupcakes in the village and refill your bottle at the same time; Ask at the front counter.
UNICEF’s Tap Project strives to make clean water available to children and families worldwide. During World Water Week the organization teams up with New York City restaurants (and others nationwide), which will collect a $1 donation in exchange for a glass of tap water. That $1 alone can give 40 kids a day’s worth of clean water to drink—an important cause considering more than 5,000 children die from lack of clean drinking water every day. Check the Tap Project’s directory for a restaurant near you—from fine dining to quick bites, the Tap Projects list of restaurants is long.
Once you've had your fill of $1 tap water, check out a wonderful exhibition featuring photographs and journal entries by 12 high school students (from the New York Harbor School in Brooklyn and Sidney Central School in the Delaware Watershed) at the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Army Plaza. The exhibition will be on display from March 1 - April 30, 2009. However, a special opening event will take place on Tuesday, March 24th from 6:30 – 8:30 pm where you will get to meet some of the trekkers and view the documentary, Mountaintop to Tap: A Journey of Discovery.
'Better than delicious' is the slogan here. Healthalicious offers classic dishes with a healthy twist, has a zero tolerance policy for additives, and makes everything to order. Ask to refill your bottle at the counter.
(85 Driggs Avenue; Ask to refill your bottle at the front counter)
By filling up your refillable bottle at TapIt water locations, you’re doing good by helping to reduce the consumption of bottled water and the high carbon cost of the industry. If you’re looking for other ways to make a difference, outdoor clothing company Horny Toad has some ideas. They’re challenging their fans to give back and choose to support eco and socially responsible causes as part of their 9 in ’09 campaign.
Horny Toad came up with 9 ideas to get you started. A few of their suggestions: buy locally produced foods, volunteer with a local charity or community organization, bring your own bag when you go shopping or introduce someone to the great outdoors. If you want to pledge to do at least one of their good deed resolutions this year, visit the 9 in ’09 site and share your story. In return, you’ll get $9 to spend at a participating store or 9% off your next online order. The clothing collection includes eco-friendly options like organic tees that give back (a portion of the proceeds goes to local environmental organizations) and hooded sweatshirts made from an eco-fiber blend that includes Modal (a sustainable fabric made from the cellulose of beech trees). We always love a good green deal, especially if it supports sustainable ideals at the same time.
(998 Amsterdam btw 109th and 110th; Ask to refill your bottle at the counter)
One of the many problems with bottled water is the bottle itself. The manufacture of the all that plastic requires about 17.6 million gallons of oil and only 86 percent of those bottles end up in the recycling bin according to Food & Water Watch. Filling up your reusable water bottle at a TapIt network location is one way to help solve the plastic problem. But if you want to take your conservation action one step beyond resolving to drink tap water on the go, you should kick the plastic grocery bag habit too.
Like plastic water bottles, plastic bags start as crude oil, natural gas or other petrochemical derivatives. And according to WorldWatch, Americans use 100 billion plastic bags every year and only .6 percent of those are recycled! BlueAvocado, makers of a sustainable grocery bag line, wants to change those stats. Visit their site and pledge to bag 5, 10 or 20 plastic grocery bags per week depending on your shopping habits. To learn more about the cause watch Schlumpy (a giant ball of plastic bags) roll through the streets of Chicago.
Sure, BlueAvocado has an ulterior motive for this campaign since the company sells reusable grocery bags, but it's a great green cause all the same. And their collection is worth checking out--in addition to traditional bags they have cooler bags, produce bags and big carry all totes, all made from recycled materials. Their offerings are convenient, look cooler than plastic bags and you can be sure they won't break, dumping your groceries on a street corner. So always remember to BYOB & B: Bring your own bottle and bags!
Sometimes there's nothing more refreshing than an ice-cold glass of water. But when you're drinking water on the go, especially as the weather warms up, it can lose its cool quickly. That's still no excuse to buy bottled water. In fact, the initial cooling of bottled water and all the time it needs to be kept cool before it's bought is all a part of the bigger carbon footprint issue (a few weeks ago, we reported that bottled water wastes up to 2,000 times more energy than tap water).
Chill out and solve the temperature problem with BuiltNY's 20 Ounce Tote or 32 Ounce Tote. These Neoprene bottle insulators stretch to fit any Sigg, Nalgene, Camelbak, Klean Kanteen or similarly shaped bottle and will keep your drink cold for up to 4 hours after you fill up at a TapIt water location. The sleek design and unassuming color options will blend in with your street style. Plus, the tote makes your bottle easier to carry since the handle snaps on to your bag, backpack or bike. Or if you don't care about hooking the tote to your bag and want a funkier pattern, try the polka dot toss and go Bottle Slinger.
If you're hungry for a bite in the Montrose area, check out Boulevard Cafe. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, but you can feel just as comfortable stopping in for a cup of coffee, or to refill your water bottle - ask at the front counter!
If you're on the hunt for all things delicious, try The Blue Stove on Graham Avenue. Wash your goodies down with good old fashioned tap water by asking to refill your bottle at the counter.
New York City is known to have some of the purest and best tasting city tap water around, and it even took the crown at the New York State Water Taste Test last summer beating out over 150 other municipal water systems. Even so, some prefer filtered water. If you don’t like the taste or want to make sure you’re getting the cleanest drink possible, you can still drink tap water on the go without buying bottled water. Here are two great options:
If you’re in the market for a new bottle, go for EcoUsable’s Ech2o Filtered Water Bottle. The 25 oz. food grade stainless steel bottle comes with a filtration system that’s built into the sport top. Again, the filter eliminates any bad odors, tastes, chemicals and heavy metals. However, this filter is more powerful than most, ridding water of biological elements so you can drink straight from a river or lake when you’re hiking or camping. EcoUsable says their bottle should last about a year and can filter 100 gallons. But, if your bottle is still in good shape after a year, just replace the filter for a lower price point.
Brooklyn Crepe and Juice Bar at 274 Flatbush Avenue, near the 7th Ave. Subway stop is now part of the TapIt network. Stop in and ask Evan to refill your water bottle behind the counter and check out his great selection of fresh juices.
K-Dog and Dune Buggy is a great neighborhood coffee and sandwich shop just a half a block from the east side of Prospect Park. Gabriella, the owner, is excited to be a TapIt partner and is providing cool filtered water for self-service next to the front counter.
Located on 12th Street across from McCarren Park, this grocery store is almost exclusively stocked with food from within a 100-mile radius. Breakfast and lunch can be ordered from the deli counter and eaten in the elevated dining area. Ask to refill your bottle at the juice and coffee bar.
Its mind-boggling to watch big companies vie for position in the bottled water market even as public opinion continues to mobilize against the wasteful practice of producing, transporting, and consuming water in plastic containers. One of the giants - indeed the largest manufacturer in North America! - is Nestle, and if anyone has caught its latest television commercial pushing its “Pure Life” Purified Water onto parents by guilting them into thinking that other beverage choices are less healthful while simultaneously alleviating them of their complicity in the environmental hazards of bottled water consumption (after all, they too busy to worry about everything!) disturbs me. There seems to be a trend in this “my kid comes first” philosophy. Anyone remember that Dixie paper plate commercial which literally used that slogan to appeal to busy moms, and actually make them feel guilty for wasting the time to clean real dishes instead of tossing disposable ones in the garbage, hence freeing up valuable kid time? Puuuuleeeeez. As increasingly the most vocal of activists in the Green Movement, parents are a consumer group with great voting power, and corporate lobbyists know it. We need them to stay strong in the face of such overt attempts to derail what should be their biggest concern: creating a sustainable future for their children, so let’s help them out when we can; not by giving them paper plates and bottled water, but by bolstering their good sense and values!
Spanning the island from Tribeca to Rockefeller Center with 11 locations,'wichcraft is more than your average lunch spot. Their menu offers impressive twists to the usual sandwich and salad options making classic deli fare appealing to foodies. Not surprising, considering its founder is Tom Colicchio, chef and owner of the Craft family of restaurants and Top Chef's head judge.
TapIt had a feeling 'wichcraft would jump on board because the sandwich shop has a strong community and charity involvement. The company sponsors hunger relief fundraisers, runs a hands-on summer intern program with NYC non-profit, The Fresh Air Fund and sources many ingredients from local farmers and artisanal food producers. And in the past, the restaurant offered cups of tap water for $1 each as part of UNICEF's Tap Project. Every dollar raised provides one child clean drinking water for 40 days. Now you can fill up your water bottle for free at all 'wichcraft locations and you can grab a bite knowing you're supporting a company that cares.
143 Roebling Street (@ Metropolitan)
(Ask to refill your bottle at the counter)
A few years back, there was a spate of articles expressing concern over the health effects of bottled water on children. Studies found that kids raised on bottled water were getting a lot more cavities than those who drank tap (the latter benefitting from the naturally-occuring and artificially-introduced fluoride in public drinking water). But other studies showed that fluoride had its own adverse effects; causing everything from brain lesions to cancer and bone fractures. Some even argue that fluoride really has little impact on the prevention of cavities. What’s a concerned parent to do? Well, arm themselves with basic, indisputable facts like the knowledge that FDA standards for bottled water are based on those the EPA has set for tap water, for one. Which means recognizing that standards for contaminants in tap water and bottled water are essentially the same. The question remains whether fluoride will ever be considered a "contaminate" such that its increasing presence in bottled water - the notice of which is currently mandatory on product labels, though that could change - will be appropriately monitored. The jury may be out on this one for a long time. If I were a mommy, I’d rather stick with fluoride in my tap knowing its regulation is strictly supervised, than trust corporations (whose sole focus is to make a buck off my paranoia!) to come up with the "right" amount. Drink tap, its safer!
(Ask to refill your bottle at the front counter)
Bedford Health Food Corp is a neighborhood health food store offering natural and organic products including bulk items. Find out more about Bedford Health Food Corp in this article from the New York Observer.
Fill up on tasty vegetarian/vegan options and ask to refill your bottle at the front counter.
(191 Bedford Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
The facts are in: A new study from researchers at the Pacific Institute found that bottled water wastes up to 2000 times more energy than tap water. This number factors in the manufacture of plastic bottles, processing the water and bottles, transportation and the cooling of the final product. Sadly, over 33 billion liters of bottled water are consumed in the U.S. each year. In 2007, this U.S.thirst required an energy equivalent of between 32 and 54 million barrels of oil. A pretty hefty carbon footprint for such a simple little item.
Choosing tap water is a healthy choice for the earth, but if you’re drinking out of the wrong bottle, it might not be such a healthy choice for you. We all know that aluminum (with liner) and stainless steel options such as those from SIGG and Klean Canteen are safe, but safety gets fuzzy when considering plastic. That’s why we want to put an end to the confusion once and for all, so you can be sure your reusable bottle isn’t leaching bisphenol-A (BPA) into your water.
BPA is commonly found in polycarbonate plastics. It can mimic estrogen and studies have linked the chemical to a number of health problems including diabetes, heart disease, cancer and reproductive abnormalities. Canada banned the import and sale of baby bottles containing BPA last fall. And a recent study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives delivered more bad news about BPA, saying it seems to stay in the body longer than originally thought.
Often, softer plastics are BPA-free. Hard, transparent plastics (like old Nalgene bottles) contain the chemical and should be tossed in the recycle bin. To be sure, before you take your next sip find the recycling code (the number in the triangle) on your bottle. If you see a 1, 2, 4 or 5 you’re in the clear. But a 7 (the code that includes polycarbonate plastics) could mean BPA is present. However, since new plastics fall under code 7—such as green options made from corn, rice or potatoes and the latest BPA-free hard plastic Tritan that Nalgene and other manufacturers are sourcing—some are safe. To keep it simple, you should only trust a 7 if it’s labeled as bio-based or BPA-free.
At Vinnie's, servers gladly fill up reuseable bottles with their soda fountain's chilled filtered tap water. Most pizza places love NY tap water and believe that its one of the factors that makes their pizza taste so good. Co-owner Yaakov Petrera encourages staff and patrons to use the soda fountain's water rather than buy Poland Spring. He says with a grin, 'I let my employees drink anything else but bottled water for free. If they want to drink the bottled water, they have to pay 50 cents.' Co-owner Henrick Toncic shares his business partner's tap water zeal, 'I haven't had a bottle of water in two years.'
(148 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn)
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