Will Banning Water Stop Pollution?

Freakonomics has an interesting point about the proposed ban on bottled water, noting that it will most likely cause students to switch to sugary sodas instead.

Every time I’ve ever bought a bottle of water, it wasn’t because I wanted water. It’s usually just more for the bottle. When I was in college, I always made sure I had a bottle of water or soda with me. Cans don’t reseal, and they can’t be thrown in a backpack.

Having a college ban bottled water won’t reduce the amount of bottles being thrown in landfills.

A better approach (as much as I hate taxes) would be to impose a new tax on bottled water or take other steps to encourage people to fill their own containers with tap water. Re-usable containers are the way to go here.

January 19th, 2009