Paris is hoping to reduce plastic waste—as well as please visitors and locals—by adding free sparkling water to more of its public fountains. A few have been installed since 2010, and the program will now be extended to include at least one in each of the city’s 20 arrondissements.
It’s not Perrier, but local water supplied by the city water authority Eau de Paris, which maintains 820 fountains around the city as well as the city’s overall water supply. The water is chilled and carbonated on the spot.
The sparkling fountains, referred to as ‘La Petillante,’ offer on-the-spot refreshment as well as free refills for users’ bottles. The hope is that France, which is the world’s 8th-biggest per capita consumer of bottled water, will stop tossing the bottles.
