How did the Bottled Water Free Town idea come about?
For some years now the Bundanoon community, through the Don’t Bore Bundanoon committee have been actively opposing the application by a non-resident business entity, Norlex, to commercially extract water from a bore within the Bundanoon town precinct. The environmental, social, heritage and financial impacts of this proposed development has brought the myriad issues of bottled water into clearer focus for many townsfolk, not the least being the removal of water from aquifers for commercial gain, during one of Australia’s longest droughts.
Local businessman, Huw Kingston arrived at the notion that if the community were against extraction of water for use in commercial bottled water, then perhaps it should step up to the plate, and oppose the end result of such developments — bottled water itself. (Huw had, 17 years previous, developed a positive retail program where a national retailer made a donation to environmental groups when customers declined shopping bags. At the time, Huw ran an annual mountain bike event from Bundanoon that was 100% Carbon Neutral, and which helped generate about $35,000 in fundraising for local schools and organisations).
In an open letter in the community magazine, Jordan’s Crossing Gazette, Huw Kingston proposed that the town could consider becoming Bottled Water Free (read the letter here.) Community and media interest was immediate and supportive.
A working group quickly formed to investigate how feasible such a proposal might be. In throwing around ideas for a name for the group, the town’s affectionate nickname was invoked, and Bundy On Tap (BOT) was established.
In its research the BOT Working Group could not find any other town that had undertaken such an initiative. It did however take inspiration from the small Tasmanian town of Coles Bay that had gone Plastic Bag Free in 2003. It was decided to seek advice from Jon Dee, founder of Planet Ark, who was co-initiator of Coles Bay going plastic bag free. Jon Dee, was now heading up the Do Something organisation, which had as one of its projects, the Bottled Water Alliance. Jon generously attended a meeting organised by the BOT working group, and on experiencing the community spirit for the project offered to assist with business and media liaison.
The Bundy On Tap working group then set about checking that business owners were on side. They were, and a community meeting was subsequently organised for 8 July 2009. Notices of the meeting were posted in around town and residents were letterbox dropped with a flyer on the initiative. A story on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald on the morning of the meeting date generated a frenzy of national and international media interest.
At the meeting itself Jon Dee presented a video of his 60 minutes TV program on bottled water. Peter Stewart, owner of the Bundanoon Newsagency explained that local businesses were behind the initiative for the great good, even given the potential loss of sales income. (Peter has estimated his own business stands to lose $1,600 in sales of bottled still water.) A show of hands was called to gauge support from the proposal that Bundanoon become Australia's First Bottled Water Free Town.
The assembled crowd of well over 350 residents voted wholeheartedly in favour of the concept. (This was the best attended town meeting in Bundanoon history) There was one brave dissenting voter. As well as an attempted vote by the representative of the industry funded Bottled Water Institute, although this was not counted, as he was not a resident of Bundanoon.
What does the Bundanoon community mean by the term “Bottled Water”?
It refers to mass-marketed still water offered for commercial sale in sealed ‘single-use’ plastic bottles. This type of beverage has been targeted because it is already efficiently provided through municipally plumbed drinking water systems - better known as tap water. In the Bundanoon context “bottled water” does not refer to ‘sparkling’ water, fruit juices, sports drinks, etc.
How was the initiative implemented on the ground?
Bundanoon retail businesses that previously sold single-use, bottled still water no longer stock this product in their drinks fridges.
With the assistance of advocacy group Do Something!, the companies Street Furniture Australia and Culligan Water kindly sponsored three filtered water ‘bubblers’ or water stations. Two for the town and another for the town’s primary school.
Wingecarribee Council provided appropriate plumbing of town water to these water stations.
The filtered water stations are prominently sign-posted, and also incorporate taps that can be used for refilling bottles.
Bundanoon retail stores make available for sale affordable, reusable, refillable water bottles.
Select Bundanoon retail stores have installed in-store chilled water filters so customers can access, for nominal cost, cold water for their reusable, refillable water bottles.
Signage indicates to retail customers where they can obtain refillable water bottles and/or chilled and filtered municipal water.
Reusable drink bottled were supplied to students of the Bundanoon Primary so they can make best used of their filtered water bubbler
These endeavours, realised by 26 September 2009, made Bundanoon, what we believe is Australia’s first Bottled Water Free Town.
Community Spirit
The Bundy On Tap working group think the following sentiment (posted by a reader of ABC News Online) sums up what is being accomplished via this initiative:
"This is a great story about a community seeing an issue and coming together to work out a solution that they are happy with. Getting people to community meetings is not easy, unless people are passionate or angry. This is a display of community support for a small action people can control that is part of a big environmental issue - it's fantastic.
They have produced a plan to implement a service - free water refills (what a concept!) that will have environmental benefits and through the conversation that will result their [sic] will be community and social capital benefits too.
This isn't the silver bullet to global warming, but it is an example of community and collective will. I bet this town doesn't stop here - people talking, collaborating and acting is a recipe for sustainability - watch this town over the coming years - there are lessons for us all here."