I'm surprised by how excited I am that the bottled water counter movement is building such momentum. Two Fridays ago I met (for the first time) with Cello Vergara, principal of Propaganda 3. At the start of our meeting, Cello offered refreshments: soda, bottled water? Of course I told him about the group I started and why. Later I discovered that by Tuesday of the following week, Cello had cancelled a standing order of bottled water for the office. And he had bought each of his employees a glass for tap water.

I love this. It's a reminder that "selling" -- whether an idea, a product, anything really in our noisy world -- comes down to connecting with those whom have a shared interest. A natural event -- being offered a drink -- prompted a simple story about a relatively small thing I'm feeling rather strongly about right now. No preaching. No convincing needed.  If whatever you're selling is really, truly a good thing, you can get the right kind of attention.  And the beat goes on...

My guess is the organizers of World Water Week in Stockholm all this week is to credit with the spate of attention of what the Associated Press is calling Public Enemy #1. 

Such an impact is being made among the press and grassroots.

Following New York's lead, last month London's Green Party launched a campaign to urge Londoners -- alleged drinkers of bottled water equivalent to just over one Olympic-sized swimming pool per week (25% of which is imported) -- to stop drinking bottled water, and instead demand tap water at restaurants.

If Londoners' public opinion is any indication, this discussion thread suggests that consumers are ready to go back to the tap. UK's Ruscombe Green blog makes a great point: that bottled water should just be part of "a complete overhaul of how we view and manage our water supplies."

Even a Chicago alderman this week proposed a $.10 to $.25 tax on bottle water ranging from $1.30 to $1.50.

Please share your thoughts.