Concord, Massachusetts bans sale of small water bottles

The new year is all about fresh starts, and on January 1st a new law came into effect which saw the US town of Concord in Massachusetts ban the sale of small bottles! What a bold move. 

At GiveMeTap we’re inspired by the determination of 84 year-old Jean Hill who committed herself to campaigning over the last three years to help stop plastic bottles filling up garbage dumps and get more people drinking straight out a tap again.

The comments section on the BBC’s article has exploded, with many in support of the ban, while some think that this will result in people purchasing unhealthy sugary beverages instead if there is no alternative to bottled water.

This is exactly why I set up GiveMeTap to give people access to tap water without the need to use plastic bottles. I was finding it way too difficult to get a refill of water - which is just crazy as all restaurants have it behind their desk. The problem was that so many of them would refuse me or ask me to ‘buy something first!’  

So I set up GiveMeTap to combat this! And I am so excited to have so many people make use of it. Now we’ve partnered with over 190 cafes (and recently been backed by BBC as way to reduce plastic waste) so that people can get free water refills without need to buy anything from the shops, or get any funny looks :P! What’s more every time you drink, you can be happy knowing that you’ve helped another person get access to clean water in Africa. Win-Win!

It’d be great to expand our free water scheme to the US as there should be an alternative for people wishing to drink water on the go.

Would love to know what you think about this ban? Good or bad?