Food & Water Watch Joins with Local Community Leaders and Businesses to Launch Grand Rapids Take Back the Tap Campaign

Today, Food & Water Watch, the Wege Foundation, the Grand Rapids
City Commission, Gilmore Collection restaurants, Grand Rapids Community
College and Saint Mary's Health Care joined together to launch Take
Back the Tap Grand Rapids. The campaign highlights the social,
economic, and environmental problems with the bottled water industry;
the need for increased funding for public tap water; and the importance
of celebrating and protecting Michigan's watersheds.

"With a wide range of stakeholders coming together to phase out
bottled water, the campaign in Grand Rapids is the most comprehensive
local effort to take back the tap that we've seen yet," said Wenonah
Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. "The launch of
the Grand Rapids Take Back the Tap campaign clearly demonstrates the
city's commitment to protecting natural resources and the environment,
not to mention consumers' wallets. It is a model for other cities to
follow."

The campaign kicked off when the Grand Rapids City Commission
introduced and passed a resolution to ban the use of municipal funds to
purchase bottled water. Joining the city of Grand Rapids in the kickoff
effort were the Gilmore Collection restaurants, St. Mary's Hospital and
three health clubs owned by Saint Mary's Health Care--Michigan Athletic
Club, East Hills Athletic Club, and Orchard Hills Athletic Club. Each
establishment pledged to immediately begin phasing out bottled water,
with the goal of educating customers about the benefits of tap water
over bottled water.

Food & Water Watch is working with business and municipalities
across the country to promote the social, environmental and economic
benefits of tap water through its Take Back the Tap Campaign. This new
initiative in Grand Rapids follows similar efforts in San Francisco,
Calif; New York, N.Y.; Los Angeles, Calif; Portland, Maine; and
Boulder, Colo., among others.