Water Conservation Idiocy at Charlie's in Durham
We're in a drought. Everyone around here knows it.
Some restaurants have chosen to take good steps towards reducing their water usage. For example, using plastic silverware, plastic cups, paper or styrofoam plates, etc. Cut down on things that need to be washed and you cut down on water usage. Not great for the landfills, but in a drought, it's far more important to reduce water usage.
But Charlie's Neighborhood and Grill took water conservancy one step too far.
They're refusing to server tap water, and instead are selling bottled water. They're only charging a buck for a bottle of water, so it's not a huge profit but it's still profit over serving a glass of tap water for free.
But the fact is, they're still serving soda, tea, and coffee - all of which are made with tap water. The water used for the soda is of course run through a filtering system but it's still water coming from a city water connection.
So why can I buy sweet tea but not a glass of water?
I know why. Because if they started carrying bottled soda and bottled tea, their profits would decrease dramatically. The markup on fountain drinks and things like iced tea and coffee is pretty high.
Don't give me water conservation as the reason, because if that's true, it's just plain stupid.