Dinner and a Movie?

FLOW the Film and Water Action Workshop Celebrate Taking Back the Tap in Portland, Maine

A few Saturdays ago, water-conscious folks turned out to the movies for a world tour of our planet‚ deepest crisis , water.  FLOW: For Love of Water has been screening in cities coast-to-coast, and this month Portland residents caught the eye-opening film at Movie at Exchange.  The evening showing was followed by a Q&A session with City Councilor Dave Marshall; Bowdoin Campus Coordinator Abriel Ferreira; SOH2O water activist Jamilla El Shafei; and local Take Back the Tap representative Amy Dowley. Moviegoers learned about local struggles over water and how to join a movement to protect our most essential resource and keep water clean and safe into the future.

This summer, the Portland City Council, Peace Action ME and local restaurants endorsed a resolution to take back the tap in support of funding for public water systems.  Communities across the state have been mobilizing to protect local groundwater supplies from water mining by the Swiss conglomerate Nestlé, with local bottling brand Poland Spring intent on expanding operations. Local grassroots battles erupting in Fryeburg, Shapleigh and Wells contextualize the global freshwater crisis for the people of Maine and are just the stuff Salina‚ film, FLOW, unveils cinematically.

Adopt a Restaurant to Take Back the Tap and pledge to serve local Portland water.

Before the Saturday showing, we encouraged movie-goers to quench their thirst (and satisfy their appetites) at a favorite Take Back the Tap establishment before the flick and to show their support for clean, public drinking water. Participating establishments include Norm’s East End Grill; Norm’s Bar and Grill; Downtown Lounge; Local 188; North Star Café; and Ruski’s.

Water enthusiasts ready to get their feet wet joined Food & Water Watch in a half-day workshop on Saturday in downtown Portland to adopt a restaurant and invite Portland eateries to Take Back the Tap. At this time of year as we celebrate giving to others, water activists are ramping up outreach to local businesses, urging them to join eateries coast-to-coast to champion the water movement , supporting local community water by pledging to eliminate bottled water from their menus.

After the training session, participants ventured into Portland proper to ask their favorite establishments to stop sales of non-carbonated bottled water and actively educate customers about the importance of sustaining healthy water supplies and supporting public water systems.

Three new restaurants happily signed on to support Portland city tap water: Bull Feeney’s Irish Pub, Tandoor, and Shays Grill Pub.  We welcomed the new pledges and hope to see more restaurants leading the movement by the new year.

Every year, about two million tons worth of PET plastic water bottles get trashed, clogging up our national landfills.  Our restaurant outreach highlights that serving tap reduces needless garbage and aligns businesses with a new wave of “Go Local” socially and environmentally conscious products and services. From Ithaca’s Moosewood to San Francisco’s Incanto to Portland’s very own North Star, serving tap has become a signature of good customer service and eco-friendly dining.