Australian town bans bottled water

"As politicians grapple with the issue of climate change, we should never forget that each and every one of us can make a real difference at the very local level," shopowner Huw Kingston told local paper the Southern Highland News.

"As was demonstrated by the intense media interest from all around the world, it's extremely heartening that our small town has become an international role model for grassroots action."

The tourist town of Bundanoon, 120 kilometres south of Sydney, showed it was fun to be green by putting on a parade and a party for the switchover.

It also demonstrated that environmentalism and entrepreneurship can coexist. Collectors were picking up souvenir switchover bottles at 29 Australian dollars (24 US dollars) apiece. The standard refillable bottles retail for the same price as the superseded reusable ones.

Jon Dee, head of environmental lobby group Do Something, reckons Bundanoon is the first place in the world to impose a ban.