Chicago wants to tap into bottled water

CHICAGO, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Chicago's city council, seeking to reduce waste and return consumers to using tap water, is proposing a 10-cent tax on every plastic water bottle sold.

Alderman George Cardenas sponsored the measure, which Mayor Richard Daley has endorsed, USA Today reported Thursday.

"It's not a tax on water, it's a tax on plastic," Cardenas said, citing the waste issue, along with declining revenue from the city water system and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions are created by transporting the water.

The Beverage Marketing Corp., reported U.S. sales of bottled water hit $10.8 billion last year, with consumers downing 8.2 billion gallons.

Chicago isn't the first major city to address the issue, the newspaper said, as the mayors of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Salt Lake City have either asked city employees not to use bottled water or have banned city spending on it.