If the idea of constantly paying two bucks for something you can readily get free doesn't appeal to you, and you want to help the environment, here's a novel idea:
 

In New York City, a project called TapIt, launched in June, connects water-thirsty residents with a growing network of cafes and restaurants where they can fill up free of charge.
 

By going to tapitwater.com or using the TapIt iPhone application, users can match their coordinates with the nearest establishment that will fill up any reusable water bottle or drinking glass with New York's finest.
 

The effort to curb dependence on bottled water is the brainchild of Kylie Harper. She says she was amazed, upon moving to the city in 2007, by New Yorkers' drinking habits.
 

"There's kind of a mindlessness about it, grabbing bottled water off the shelves, even bringing it home where there's a public utility right there," says Harper, who was raised in New Zealand.
 

She says more than 300 cafes and restaurants, featuring TapIt stickers out front, are now on board.
 

The program eliminates the embarrassment of asking for free tap water, says Harper. She adds that public water fountains in New York City are few and far between.
 

"New Yorkers are out and about all the time and, for convenience, just buy bottled water," she says. "This is a way to give them the same convenience, and businesses can increase their traffic."
 

Harper says there is interest from about a half-dozen other cities in the U.S., as well as Vancouver, to launch TapIt, but she has yet to hear from anyone in Toronto.
 

Joe Cressy might change that. He's the Toronto-based campaign coordinator for the Polaris Institute. One of the institute's aims is to reduce bottled water consumption in Canada.
 

"I think it's a great idea," says Cressy when told about TapIt. "What I like most is that it's a community initiative."
 

He mentions Toronto's ban on the sale of bottled water in municipal buildings and facilities as a sign of change. And he says the city's HTO to Go water trailers, which are like giant moving water fountains that appear free at events around Toronto, help more people turn to the tap.
 

But with what he describes as a dearth of working water fountains in the city, Cressy says TapIt would fill a growing demand.
 

"The back-to-the-tap movement is really taking off. We've seen that in the last 12 months. We're seeing programs like HTO to Go, but it's not enough. We're trying to make up for years of neglect, when bottled water was the default choice."
 

 View article at The Toronto Star