Out in the Field

Bottled water is a huge drain on U.S. water resources. First, it takes three liters of water to simply produce a one-liter bottle. In addition, more than 2.7 million tons of plastic is needed to make such water bottles each year--but less than 20 percent of these bottles end up being recycled.

Since about 40 percent of bottled water sold is tap water with additional filtration, perhaps it makes more sense to drink our precious, well-managed resource--public tap water? As the largest nation of bottled water consumers, we in the U.S. each drink more than 26 gallons every year, producing copious amounts of trash and wasting precious resources.

The Salem Access PSA describes how by working together, the communities of Salem and Beverly, Mass., provided pure, clean hydration and prevented a mountain of water bottle waste at the second annual Salem Jazz and Soul Festival on August 16, 2008.

Want to Borrow H2O Canteens for Public Events in Beverly or Salem, Mass.?

5 Water Canteens Available

Public Water at Public Events

From 2008 on, Salem Sound Coastwatch and other local organizations used potable water canteens at their events. Because these organizations say no to bottled water, fresh Salem/Beverly public supply water was served using 5 gal. canteens borrowed from the National Guard. The demonstration projects were a success and the Citizens for Salem/Beverly Water Resources and its Water Canteen Borrow Program were officially launched in 2010. The Board of Health-certified program eliminates thousands of single-use plastic water bottles each year in Salem and Beverly.