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Designers show ideas for a stylish capital carafe
Mark Prigg, Science Correspondent16.09.08
Plans for a "London carafe" to serve tap water in thousands of restaurants were unveiled today as a shortlist of 10 designs went on show at City Hall.
The winning entry, to be judged by a panel of experts, will be manufactured and used across the capital from early next year.
Following the launch of the Evening Standard's Water on Tap campaign this year, sales of bottled water in the capital have already dropped. It successfully persuaded thousands of restaurants to offer free tap water to customers.
The carafe contest, organised by Thames Water and the Mayor of London, hopes to decrease further the use of environmentally unsound bottled water.
Boris Johnson said: "This is a magnificent campaign that will empower customers to ask for tap water rather than feeling compelled to ask for expensive bottled brands. More importantly, drinking tap water will cut the amount of plastic and glass waste that we create and in turn will reduce the size of the capital's carbon footprint."
The one-litre carafe is to be made primarily from recycled glass.
The shortlistwas unveiled by Thames Water's Richard Aylard and Rosie Boycott, who was recently appointed chairman of London Food. "London is lucky to have some of the best quality tap water in the country and it is a far better choice than bottled water, both economically and environmentally," Ms Boycott said.
The shortlist includes designs by Neil Barron, Steve Wooster, and Nina Tolstrup. A prototype of each design will now be manufactured for the judging panel, which will meet in November.
The final winner of the £5,000 prize will be announced in December.
Judges include chef Aldo Zilli, architect Zaha Hadid, Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth and Evening Standard wine critic Andrew Neather. The panel will be chaired by Rosy Greenlees of the Crafts Council.
Reader views (7)
Just place a drinking fountain on every restaurant table, sorted.
- Martin, London
Quaint idea but pointless really! Generating more plastic containers when restaurants can just use what they've got or just serve in glasses.
- Angela, London
Great idea. A jug of water should automatically be put on every table as a matter of course, as happens in many other countries. However, it should have a big enough neck for ice cubes and definitely not look like the Nina Tolstrup one illustrated (too much like a mens' bed bottle).
- Deborah, London
the trouble is people think its there given right to go into a restaurant behave in any manor they see fit i was in a restaurant at the weekend and a women had here shoes on some bar stool ,the manager asked politly if she could put them down and she wondered why??, she then takes here shoes off and puts them back onto the stool ,so now i,m sitting there ready to eat with her feet at eye level of my main course ,this is exactly the atitude which needs to change if i go to a restaurant and want water in a clean glass /little ice i expect to pay for it,i have seen many servers rushed off there feet because every body wants a glass of "free" water NOW and would not dream of paying for it because i have ordered a starter worth 10.50 it just seems to me that people seem to think that tap water costs nothing ?
- Marc, london
Excellent! Free portable urinals!
- Nick - Bali, Bali, (Mostly)
A great idea, but here in Melbourne they just use recycled wine bottles and they are put on the table as you order as a matter of course. But the water must be chilled it tastes so much better.
- Colin Snelling, Melbourne Australia
If you don't want to pay for mineral water when you are in a restaurant,you say 'and a glass of tap water please' and they bring you one. Why do we need any kind of campaign? Perhaps we should campaign for other people to order our meals for us in resturants, since we are evidently too spineless to ask for what we want.
- Susan, london
