Italian officials are reducing the amount of plastic trash by encouraging people to drink the potable tap water instead of bottled water. This strategy has already made a difference in reducing the amount of overall plastic trash in Italy from 288 tons of plastic trash a month a year ago to 261 tons a month currently.
Nice!
Italians are the world's leading consumers of bottled water. However, in towns like Venice, where there are no roads, an incredible amount of these plastic bottles end up floating in their water canals. It is extremely labor intensive to collect these bottles and pollutes and de-beautifies the city.
As a result the Italians officials have made a bold and noble move-- encouraging people to drink tap water. (Which is suitable for drinking.) What a great step in reducing plastic waste and cleaning up the city at the same time! Officials have used advertising tactics similar to the bottled water industry to create a brand name for their potable tap water, "Acqua Veritas" that has a sleek logo that has been printed on stylish carafes that have been freely distributed to households.
Already this strategy has shown an improvement, reducing the amount of plastic trash to 261 tons a month, where it was 288 just a year ago.
Way to go! With little steps like these, we can make a world of a difference!