Tap Water Back in London

In a bid to encourage people to return to humble tap water, London’s Mayor pledged to promote drinking fountains in the city. Now visitors can enjoy a free drink of water (sans the wasteful and polluting plastic bottle) in Trafalgar Square with the installation of a spiffy new granite and brass water fountain.

Although the fountain was originally installed in 1960, it has undergone a major revamp to ensure it provides free water to the thirsty masses.

“It is fantastic news that a refreshing gulp of free London tap water is now available to the millions of people who visit Trafalgar Square every year,” explains London’s Mayor Boris Johnson. “Many old drinking fountains lie dormant and I hope this newly restored feature helps to ‘untap’ a new trend in civic planning.”

The British-based We Want Tap Campaign explains that only 10% of water bottles are recycled in the UK – the rest go into the landfill. Approximately 2.7 million tons of plastic are consumed each year to make bottled water. Just feeding the British consumer bottled water habit produces an estimated 33,200 tons of CO2 per year.  In North America, the Think Outside The Bottle Campaign is also getting people to return to the tap. Their campaign estimates that meeting Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 17 million barrels of oil a year– enough fuel to operate more than 1 million US cars for one year – and generates more than 2.5 million tons of CO₂.  We want tap