04/04/07 Touch for Tap water

In a move that is sure to shake up the bottled water industry, some of California's toniest dining establishments, restaurants that not only set the bar for others throughout the nation but also define dining trends like Chez Panissee have opted to serve tap instead of expensive bottled water. For years consumers have been trained to request bottled water when dining, believing that it tasted better and was healthier than tap water. Yet in this new eco/eat local society we are now navigating, bottle water no longer fits . For one, water in bottles is transported great distances to get the restaurant and in the process uses precious fossil fuels not only en route, but also in container manufacturing . Then there is the problem of disposal. Where do all the empty water bottles end up? Unceremoniously dumped along side disposable diapers in our landfills of course and this is just no longer socially acceptable. So the great consumer deception of the 21 century is about to go head on head with an even greater social movement environmentalism. Tap water has just become cool again.