From the NY Times: "City Known for Its Water Turns to Tap to Cut Trash"

Thanks to Chay for his tip about this rather heartening, and slightly nauseating, bit of news from Venice, courtesy NY Times writer Elizabeth Rosenthal (originally published June 11, 2009):

In this hot and noble city, discarded water bottles float by gondolas on the edges of the canals and spill out of trash cans on the majestic Piazza San Marco. Because Venice has no roads, trash must be collected on foot at enormous expense. And while plastic bottles can in principle be recycled, the process still unleashes greenhouse gases.

Italians are the leading consumers of bottled water in the world, drinking more than 40 gallons per person annually. But as their environmental consciousness deepens, officials here are avidly promoting what was previously unthinkable: that Italians should drink tap water.

Check out the rest here.  Read more about Acqua Veritas here.