The Bottled-Water Ban of Bundanoon

Here in America, we're struggling to decide whether companies that sell bottled water should divulge what the water might contain. The residents of Budanoon, a small town in Australia, have taken a more radical approach by voting to ban the stuff altogether.

After the near-unanimous vote at a town meeting this week, the residents let out a triumphant cheer. On the same say, the premier of the state of New South Wales banned the state government from buying bottled water.

For Australia, it's "time for people to realize they're being conned by the bottled water industry," said Jon Dee, one of the people behind the campaign in Bundanoon, a town of about 2,500 residents near Syndey.

What most upset the residents was a plan to build a water-extraction plant in town. "Residents," reports the AP, "were furious over the prospect of an outsider taking their water, trucking it up to Sydney for processing and then selling it back to them."

So, while an outright ban might seem extreme, given the circumstances, you can't really blame the Bundanoonians.