Some upscale restaurants shun bottled water
BERKELEY, Calif. - Bye-bye bottled water. Hello eau de tap. A new trend is in the pipeline, with some upscale restaurants ditching packaged H2O in the name of conservation.
"They're taking a step against the, I believe, deception that's going on out there, which is that somehow bottled water is superior to tap water," Leal said.
The bottled water backlash, is spurred by environmental concerns over the energy used in transportation as well as the disposal of all those containers.
Not surprisingly, the notion of giving up the bottle fizzled with the International Bottled Water Association, based in Alexandria, Va. Spokesman Stephen Kay argued the switch "wouldn't have that big of a conservation impact and restricts customer choices". Switching to municipal water can put a damper on profits since there's a healthy markup on bottled water...
"It's not like we've got bad water here. Our water's terrific," Mindel said. "I don't think we've had one single person that's said, `Oh, can't you bring me Perrier.'"
"Now we can buy more wine," ... said with a smile.
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