How long since you've sipped from a bubbler? Possibly not since school!?
Let's bring them back. They make sense.
We all know that plastic drinking bottles are the bane of our generation. Their life span is very short before they end up in landfill for a very long time. You could re-use them, but then you could be consuming the plastic compounds which may have leached into the water, and there's lots of reasons why you don't want to do that. There's also the issue of bottled water being expensive - If you're going to buy a drink in a plastic bottle it's probably the best choice for your health. But I don't think we should have to!
Of course there's the option to fill your own stainless steel bottle and take with you. This is very sensible and seems to work for a lot of people. It's reusable, there's none of the issues associated with eating and drinking from plastic, and it's free once you've bought the bottle.
However it is just another thing to purchase, to remember to take when you go out, to carry around with you throughout the day and to store in the kitchen cupboards. And at some point in time - another thing to throw out.
If you look for them, there are bubblers around. Have a look at this bubbler project here in Sydney. There are some lovely old ornate bubblers which shows they were readily used in the past - I'm guessing our slight obsession with hygiene made them less appealing for some time.
I have probably noticed this more since living in Sydney. In Yamba I was never far from home or from a familiar shop or cafe where I could always ask for a glass of water! I'm noticing and appreciating the public/community facilities and fixtures here. Beautiful parks and well-equipped libraries as well as the bubblers.
I love the idea behind this Sydney Water campaign. It encourages Sydney-siders to choose tap water over bottled. It even has an option to search for cafes that serve tap water.
Easy! No harmful toxins, less plastic in land fill, free and convenient.
