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Press release 19.02.08
The clear choice
Thames Water and Mayor of London launch new campaign to promote tap water in London's restaurants, cafes and pubs.
Thames Water and the Mayor of London have joined forces to launch a new campaign to promote tap water across the watering holes and eating establishments of the capital. By using less bottled water, Londoners can help to cut climate change carbon emissions associated with its production, storage, transportation and disposal.
London On Tap, sponsored by Green Party London Assembly member Jenny Jones, and supported by Environment Minister Phil Woolas aims to:
- Raise awareness of the high quality of London's tap water, the impact of bottled water on climate change and the environment, and its benefits to health and well-being
- Empower customers in bars and restaurants to ask for tap water rather than feeling obliged to ask for more expensive bottled brands
- Encourage restaurants, bars and hotels across London to support London On Tap and proudly serve tap water to customers, giving them a real choice about what water they can drink.
The centrepiece of the campaign will be a competition, open to all London-based designers, to design an iconic carafe made from recycled glass to be used in bars, restaurants and hotels across London to serve tap water to customers. The competition will kick-off in May this year, with the challenge to come up with a design that matches good looks with environmental sustainability.
The former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said:
"My message is very simple: don't be embarrassed to ask for tap water when you eat out. You will save money and help save the planet. By drinking less bottled water, we can cut the climate change carbon emissions coming from its production and transportation, and cut the problem of disposing of used bottles. Choosing tap water is cheaper and a perfectly acceptable alternative to bottled water, and it will help to protect the environment. I have joined forces with Thames Water on this campaign to help people feel more confident in asking for tap water rather than bottled water in our restaurants and cafes, and to encourage businesses make it easier for their customers to make that choice."
Thames Water Chief Executive David Owens, said:
"We all know the benefits of keeping hydrated and luckily in London we have probably the best drinking water in the world. We should all be proud to drink it. Each year, our water meets more than half a million stringent quality tests, and in a recent independent taste test rated higher than 20 more expensive, bottled brands.
"At less than a tenth of a penny a litre, it's up to 500 times cheaper than bottled water, and is kinder to the environment, emitting 300 times less CO2 to process it than bottled alternatives.
"So tap water is not only good for you - it's good for London and good for the environment".
Environment Minister Phil Woolas said:
"We've got some of the best tap water in the world and we should be prouder of that. I'm not going to tell people what to drink, but I believe there is no place for snobbery about tap water, and no excuse for making people feel small if they ask for it. If this move by Thames Water and the Mayor of London gives people confidence to ask for what they want in restaurants that has to be a good thing."
Jenny Jones, Green Party member for the London Assembly, said:
"Londoners want to be greener and its important to make it as easy as possible, so ordering tap water with your meal, or at the pub, is fashionable and the right thing to do. The idea of the carafes is to help Londoners take a stand against one of the biggest con jobs of the last two decades. Selling water in bottles and burning massive quantities of fossil fuels for its transportation does not make economic or environmental sense. This is a simple, money-saving way to brush up your eco-credentials. Say ‘no' to bottled water and help save the planet."
The campaign has been welcomed by environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth.
Friends of the Earth, Executive Director Tony Juniper, said:
"Drinking tap water cuts plastic and glass waste and reduces the size of our carbon footprint. Shipping water around in bottles, sometimes over thousands of miles, is mad from an environmental point of view. In facing the pressing challenge of climate change, we need to reduce the amount of resources we use up and cut the distance that products travel. In both respects tap water is a far better choice than bottled. We hope that restaurants, bars and clubs across the capital will make London a sustainability leader by offering tap water first"
Notes to Editors
- For more information about London On Tap, visit http://www.londonontap.org or contact Nicola Savage or Amy Dutton at Thames Water Press Office, Tel: 0118 373 8921
- The London On Tap logo is available for use in editorial and broadcast pieces and can be downloaded from our website (see below).
- A taste test comparing bottled water brands with tap water was carried out by Decanter magazine in December 2007 and filmed by the BBC for Panorama. The programme was broadcast on BBC1 at 18 Feb 2008 at 8.30pm. Thames Water's tap water was rated third out of 24 varieties tested.
- The design competition will be launched in all London design colleges in May 2008. Rules and information will be available from the London On Tap website.
- Entrants will be judged by a panel in December 2008. Manufacture of the winning design is due to begin in January 2009 with carafes expected to start appearing in outlets across London from April 2009.
- London On Tap is a partnership with London Remade and WaterAid.
- London Remade helps London reduce, reuse and recycle its waste by developing markets for recycled materials to be made into new products;
- WaterAid is the international charity, which enables the world's poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. Any proceeds from sale of carafes will go to support WaterAid's work in the developing world.
- Thames Water is the UK's largest water and wastewater company, supplying clean, drinking water to 8.5million customers and wastewater services to 13 million customers across London and the Thames Valley.
- The quality of Thames Water's tap water is monitored by the Drinking Water Inspectorate.
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Downloading logos
Logos for London On Tap and Thames Water are available to download from this site.
Please note that these logos are for press and editorial use ONLY.
No unauthorised use of these marks for commercial or promotional purposes is permitted.
For further information please contact: press@thameswater.co.uk
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