Free Consultancy On Tap

The Freedom of Information Act is a marvelous thing. It's allowed Greener Leith to identify a cost saving for the City of Edinburgh Council, that we're sure the senior managers there will be delighted to learn about.

Using the fantastic whatdotheyknow.com site, we've discovered that the City of Edinburgh Council spent a staggering £10,626.04 on bottled water in 2008. It turns out that this cost is not dissimilar to the amount that the houses of parliament spends on bottled water each year, according to People and Planet. In the case of Westminster, they calculated that the cost of providing the equivalent amount of tap water would have been just £25 a year. So, lets assume the tap water cost to the Edinburgh Council would be about the same. £10,625.04 - £25 = saving of £10,600.04.

That's £10,600.04 that could've been spent on front line services, or perhaps even given to a local voluntary organisation to improve their neighbourhood...like Greener Leith for example.

We don't blame council managers for thinking that free bottled water is a vital commodity for boosting productivity in the workplace. Lots of people do. But really they've all been mugged by the ad man. For a start free water is already available in nearly every workplace - from the taps. If people are thirsty they know what to do. Also,  no-one can tell the difference between the taste of tap water and the taste of bottled water. And thirdly the quality of our tap water in Scotland is great. 99.76% of samples in 2007 complied with water quality standards, and each year this figure improves. If there's one thing Scotland doesn't need to import, it's water.

The environmental impact of bottled water is also staggering. It's estimated that the total energy wasted in producing and transporting all the bottled water we drink in the UK is equivalent to the energy used by 6000 households each year. The City of Edinburgh council has signed up to the Scottish Climate Change declaration. Perhaps we've identified an incredibly easy way for the council to cut it's carbon footprint too?

Of course the Freedom of Information Act doesn't apply in all workplaces. However, many private workplaces also provide free bottled water to their staff. The same principle applies, so why not try working out how much money your employer wastes on water? You never know, you might get a pay rise out of it.

Comments

[portobelly]

Perhaps water jugs could be provided in offices, so that even where fresh water taps were less convenient water would be available desk-side.

At the Howies store in London there is a reclaimed sink and tap for people to fill up their water-bottles for free. I thought this was ace and oh so simple. If there were more taps like this people wouldn't need to buy bottled water when they were out and about either.

Radical concepts.