Love That Dirty Water?

Boston’s seen a bit of bottled-water backlash lately. First, there was the TAP project, which charged diners $1 for a glass of water to help raise funds for UNICEF, and which won me over on two counts: providing clean water to developing countries, and sparing diners the embarrassment of declining the $6 Pellegrino in favor of tap. (What? I’m cheap, and it’s $1 at Costco.) Then, as the Globe’s Devra First points out, a growing number of restaurants are ditching the bottled stuff altogether, citing its wastefulness.

Hear, hear, I say. Given the city’s relatively high quality drinking water supply, bottled water just isn’t necessary in most cases. (Add that to your list of reasons to love Boston, eh?) In general, I’ve been feeling pretty good about sticking with tap.

And then, as if the bottled water suppliers and Plastics Council had joined forces, hell-bent on me buying some sort of packaged water product, they went for the throat.

“Most people don’t really know what’s in their ice,” reads the press release. “Recent tests have found all sorts of bacteria and germs in ice cubes—from hepatitis and salmonella to E. coli, even blood and feces!”

Ewwww. The email goes on to explain:

Inside most refrigerators, since the air is circulated continuously between the refrigerator and freezer compartments, unpackaged or poorly packaged items are open to cross-contamination. Ice in trays absorbs bacteria and odors from other raw foods around it.

Predictably, this anti-ice crusade has a profitable goal. The answer?

On the Rocks Ice is the first company to mass-produce packaged spring water ice. These ice cubes are as pure as bottled water—fresh from a New England spring… On the Rocks provides a re-sealable package for its crystal-clear ice – completely alleviating [the] problem.

Or, you could just throw out your old ice, get rid of that rotting lo mein in your fridge, and wash your damn ice tray once in a while. Greener, cheaper, and a lot less lame.