Kansas City News Blog

By CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKI

Say goodbye to those plastic water bottles with the Kansas City skyline. As of October 1, the city’s water department won’t be putting tap water in plastic containers.

And not only is councilmember Beth Gottstein one step closer to tossing the city’s bottled-water habit, but she also got a public apology from a colleague who originally made fun of her effort.

Six months ago, Gottstein introduced a measure ban the purchase of bottled water at City Hall and other municipal facilities. It doesn’t make much sense, Gottstein argued, to put tap water in petroleum containers when the same stuff is available at the nearest sink.

Back then, some of her colleagues, like Councilmember Ed Ford, made light of the green idea. But last week he changed his previously mocking tone and the council unanimously passed a resolution that puts the city a big step toward abandoning the bottled-water trend.

The decision to eliminate the City of Fountains Premium Bottled Water Program came last month. In an August 25th letter to City Manager Wayne Cauthen, water services’ interim director John Franklin said the city’s water quality is top-notch and the energy and pollution necessary to ship that H20 to a bottling plant in Kansas City, Kan., doesn’t make good environmental sense.

“The high carbon footprint of producing and distributing single serve petroleum bottles is not congruent with our goal of being one of the greenest cities in the country,” Franklin wrote.

The city council didn’t disagree. Last week, all 12 elected officials and Mayor Mark Funkhouser voted in favor of resolution commending Franklin’s decision. But before the vote, Ford singled out Gottstein to say he was sorry. “Some of us, me specifically, kind of ridiculed it,” Ford said at the council session. “So I wanted to publicly apologize.”

Local environmental advocate, Kate Corwin, says she was thrilled with the decision. In July, she started an online petition to ban bottled water at City Hall and, in the past six weeks, the effort has garnered more than 450 signatures. She hopes the move by the water department could pave the way for Gottstein's original measure.

“We're still expecting Beth to put forward an ordinance banning the purchase and use of bottled water -- whatever brand -- at City Hall and other city facilities,” Corwin says. “After this move by the water department, hopefully there won't be as much resistance.”

At least, not from Ed Ford.