Concord, a US town located in the State of Massachusetts, has placed a ban on the sale of small bottles of water in a bid to reduce waste and encourage the use of tap water. Shops can now only sell bottled water in units of 1 litre or more.
It seems that Concord has followed the lead of the Australian town Bundanoon, which completely banned bottled water in 2009. In addition, more than 90 universities in the US and others around the world have already restricted the sale of plastic bottles, as have some local Government authorities.
However, Concord's ban extends exclusively to small bottles of water, not small bottles of any other drink.
First offenders will receive a warning, but anyone caught selling the banned bottles again will be fined $25 (£15), and $50 for further offences.
Jean Hill, who led the campaign for the ban, said, "What I'm trying to do with this bylaw is to increase the barriers to buying single-serve bottled water. In order to help people change, you need to put policies in place that steer them away from buying bottled water and toward considering the many other good alternatives."
