A piece forwarded to me by my step-son Nathan. From Jim Murphy 'Mark to Market' writer, Dow Jones:

"Et Tu, Michael?

I have never been a fan of designer waters, not just for the obvious reasons that they cost a lot more than virtually free municipal water, which is almost always comparable in quality to Poland Spring, Evian, Dasani or whatever.

There are other less obvious, but more weighty, reasons to shun bottled water.

Tons of gasoline and diesel fuel are expended in trucking bottled water to warehouses, local supermarkets and other outlets all over the United States. As if that were not environmental lunacy for a product that comes free out of the kitchen tap, the plastic bottles in which the water comes probably take a century or two to decompose after they are trucked to landfills where the petroleum byproducts from which they are made seep into the ground water.

That's why the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, deserves praise for banning city payment for designer water at all municipal buildings and agencies.

The mayor pointed out that, not only would the city save about $500,000 a year in bottled water costs, but San Francisco municipal water is equal to or superior to anything that comes in a bottle.

"In San Francisco," Reuters reported, "for the price of one gallon of bottled water, local residents can purchase 1,000 gallons of tap water," according to the executive order signed by the mayor.

Those city employees worried about the quality of the municipal water supply can always pick up a bottle of designer water on their way to work.

Or they can do what my son, Max, and his wife, Karen, did when they realized the environmental drawbacks of bottled water: They gave away the bottled water cooler they had and began using a Brita water filter. Not, mind you, that the family is recommending a Brita filter. Any decent water filtration system is a lot "greener" than any bottled water.

Aside to Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City: Mr. Mayor, have you gotten rid of all city-funded bottled water just as Mayor Newsom did? If you haven't, I know from your great record on environmental matters you soon will. There's no need to give me credit for the idea."

Gillian's comment: Last night Pierre and I attended the Police Concert. Part of the proceeds from their tour will go to support WaterAid, an organization that works to provide access to safe water to everyone in the world. Currently 1/6th of the world's population, more than one billion people do not have such access. Something is completely out of whack when people who live in the rich nations are deciding which designer water is more 'cool' that the rest and paying astronomical prices for those deemed to be the coolest and more than a billion people face death and disease from the water supplies available to them.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive