MILANO OGGI NOTIZIE (Italy)
MILAN – In Italian restaurants, if you want to drink water with your meal, you have two choices: bottled still water or bottled fizzy water, each about 2 euros a pop. Tap water is rarely served, and when it is, you often have the bad surprise of being billed for it too, Milano Oggi Notizie writes.
But now, local representatives have asked the Mayor to make free tap water a right in city restaurants. Alessandro Papale, a 26-year-old ecologist and local city councilor, said he brought the idea from a trip in the United States, where he was served tap water before ordering food.
The proposition met with fierce opposition from business owners. Alfredo Zini, a chairman for a business organization, said it was up to him to decide what he could serve in his restaurant. “It’s like offering liqueur at the end of the meal: some do it and some don’t, but it’s not up to politicians,” he said to Milan Oggi Notizie.
Officials supporting the bill insist on the positive impact the measure would have on the environment. Naturally, they also try to set an example by drinking only tap water during council meetings.
