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Concord bans bottled water
CONCORD, Mass., (UPI) -- An octogenarian living in Thoreau's town of Concord, Mass., has orchestrated a ban on the sale of bottled water in the area, residents say.
Jean Hill, 82, proposed the ban at a town meeting in April and although officials allegedly have hinted they might not strictly enforce the ruling some from the bottled water industry are threatening to sue when the ban takes effect Jan 1., The New York Times reported Wednesday.
"It's a completely legal commodity, and to ban it runs afoul of interstate commerce considerations," Tom Lauria, a spokesman for the International Bottled Water Association, said.
Hill's drive to banish plastic water bottles from Concord began when her 10-year-old grandson told her about the Pacific garbage patch floating between California and Hawaii allegedly made up primarily of plastic water bottles, the Times said.
"The bottled water companies are draining our aquifers and selling it back to us," Hill said. "We're trashing our planet, all because of greed."
For the critics who dismiss her as being just an old woman with too much time on her hands, Hill dismisses that.
"Oh, I know," she huffed, "this little old lady in tennis shoes butting into everyone's business. It's annoying and it's not true. I'm not meddling; I'm trying to accomplish a legitimate goal."
CONCORD, Mass., (UPI) -- An octogenarian living in Thoreau's town of Concord, Mass., has orchestrated a ban on the sale of bottled water in the area, residents say.
Jean Hill, 82, proposed the ban at a town meeting in April and although officials allegedly have hinted they might not strictly enforce the ruling some from the bottled water industry are threatening to sue when the ban takes effect Jan 1., The New York Times reported Wednesday.
"It's a completely legal commodity, and to ban it runs afoul of interstate commerce considerations," Tom Lauria, a spokesman for the International Bottled Water Association, said.
Hill's drive to banish plastic water bottles from Concord began when her 10-year-old grandson told her about the Pacific garbage patch floating between California and Hawaii allegedly made up primarily of plastic water bottles, the Times said.
"The bottled water companies are draining our aquifers and selling it back to us," Hill said. "We're trashing our planet, all because of greed."
For the critics who dismiss her as being just an old woman with too much time on her hands, Hill dismisses that.
"Oh, I know," she huffed, "this little old lady in tennis shoes butting into everyone's business. It's annoying and it's not true. I'm not meddling; I'm trying to accomplish a legitimate goal."
