Great article.  I personally avoid bottle water wherever possible.  I do it both because of the cost and the environmental impact.  I have become rather fond of my stainless steel water bottle.  I am not sure about the ban from vending machines.. I would like to see my data if it actually promotes filling your own water bottle or if it just causes people to buy more pop.  gh mentioned an important point that water is pretty nasty in a lot of places and sometimes it can be very hard to choke down the water, especially if you are not use to it.  As someone that drinks a ton of water I will notice subtle differences, and some water I just cannot drink without filtering.

I do like the idea of getting colleges and universities away from buying it for their own events and what not.  I think an important midway step would be to recommend using your own bottle and refilling it, as well as making sure there are ample recycling opportunities.

I think this is a great idea.  It boils down to the end of the article: you have to think about where things are coming from.  Once you lose track of that, you can't make responsible decisions.

http://www.startribune.com/local/129195988.html?page=1&c=y