Not quite yet, but the O’Malley administration has made a big step forward in cutting back on the bottled liquid. They have decided to no longer supply bottled water to any state facility where tap water would be available. Maryland is now the 6th state to join the movement of lessening the supply of water bottles within the government. The move has been supported by environmentalists as well as economists and especially by the group Corporate Accountability International who argue that bottled water is wasteful and undermines support for municipal drinking-water systems. So far there is no really clear understanding of just how much money this will save for Maryland but DNR representative Richard Norling has stated that Maryland paid $200,000 to Deer Park in 2010. In buildings or sites where taps or water fountains are not available to people, bottled water will still be supplied as well in emergencies. It will be up to agency heads to decide whether or not bottled water will be available in vending machines. This is definitely a positive move for the environment and hopefully an equally good move for the economy. I guess we’ll have to see what this extra money will go towards.
--Emily Beckhardt
