{Restaurants} Think Outside the Bottle

Photo: serving tap water in Chez Panise Jim Wilson/The New York Times

“At the White Dog Cafe, our mission is to serve not only customers, but also our employees, community and natural world. When I realized the harm done to nature by the bottled water industry, it was an easy decision to join the Think Outside the Bottle campaign and stop selling bottled water.  Not only is it unnecessary to burn fossil fuels and generate carbon emissions by shipping water long distance and a waste to use disposable bottles, but I also reject a system which robs other communities of their water resources.  We have our own clean water supply, which comes right out of our taps.”

-- Judy Wicks, owner and founder of Philadelphia’s White Dog Cafe and a national leader in the local, living economies movement.

From celebrity chef Mario Batali’s Del Posto in New York City to Alice Water’s Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, restaurants are now serving tap instead of bottled water.

The shift reduces waste and encourages more sustainable eating habits by serving local safe, clean and reliable water from the tap instead of its high priced, bottled alternative.

What’s more, restaurants are supporting public water systems by serving tap water. It sends the message that our local tap water is the best in the world and is good enough for America’s finest restaurants.

{How to} Think Outside the Bottle