a Corsican restaurateur charges for the carafe of water

2023-05-15 16:22:00

Faced with the “waste”, a restaurant owner from Bastia offers his customers to charge 10 cents for each carafe of water. Objective: to avoid waste.

Par Julian Matteiin Bastia

Michaël Gillot, a restaurant owner in Bastia (Haute-Corse), suggests that his customers charge 10 euro cents for each carafe of water to avoid waste.
© Julian Mattei

Published on 05/15/2023 at 4:22 p.m.

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C’is written in full on the restaurant’s new menu: carafe of water, 0.10 euro. As drought strikes the country again, with around twenty departments affected by restrictions, a restaurant in Bastia (Haute-Corse) intends to bring its (small) stone to the building.

His idea: to offer a pay carafe of water to raise awareness among his customers. “When we were in the middle of a drought last summer, I had a problem throwing the bottoms of the decanter into the plants or on the sidewalk, explains Michaël Gillot, the restaurateur. We eat an average of 100 a day. This year, however, we no longer systematically put it on the tables, and I decided to suggest that my customers charge 10 euro cents to raise awareness of the water issue. »

READ ALSODrought: the situation is improving (a little) thanks to the showers in May

Clarification for all practical purposes: there is no obligation to pay this amount when paying the bill. Since 1^is January 2022, catering establishments and drinking establishments are indeed required to offer free drinking water – carafes and glasses of water – to their customers. “The objective is absolutely not to earn money, underlines the entrepreneur. I will even lose some, since I will be subject to VAT on the price of the carafe and the amount collected will be donated to an environmental association. In this way, each client of my establishment will have the opportunity to participate indirectly in planting trees and protecting nature. »

“You have to understand the symbolism of the gesture”

On consumer sites, this initiative is not unanimous. Internet users fear that it could make school with other establishments. But, on the terrace of the Conti, which extends under the plane trees of the place Saint-Nicolas, the customers welcome this idea with kindness. “We waste far too much water, and everyone has to understand that,” says Noël, a pensioner seated at lunchtime. As far as I am concerned, I have no problem paying this small sum. At the time of the addition, 10 cents more or less, it does not change anything. »

A few meters further, Cynthia, seated at the table with her young son, makes the same observation: “It is a symbolic measure. Water is a threatened resource, as we clearly saw last year during the drought. Personally, it made me think about its use. »

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On the side of the other restaurateurs, we also see this initiative in a good light, even if it has little chance of developing on the island. “You have to have the foresight to understand the symbolism of the gesture, considers Frédéric Ruiz, president of the catering branch of the union of trades and hotel industries (Umih) of Corsica. It is obvious that this establishment will not make money with jugs of water, but this initiative has the merit of educating customers on a crucial subject. »

The specter of a new drought

If the situation is less tense than last year at the same time, the specter of drought still hangs over the island. According to the prefecture, the recharge season is lacking in terms of rainfall, with only 70% of normal. Some regions of Corsica show a more severe deficit, for example in Bastia, which only reaches 53% of the expected total. “The deficit remains smaller than in 2022, explain the state services. However, over the last sixteen months, twelve have been in deficit. »

READ ALSODrought in the Pyrénées-Orientales: “We risk the loss of crops”

In order to anticipate the consequences of a drought which could worsen, the representatives of the Corsican agricultural sectors have proposed to undertake voluntarily, from mid-May, reductions in water consumption, on tree farms, fodder, cereals and wine. Sign that the episode of last year, which had seen the island placed in vigilance from the beginning of spring, with its share of restrictions, marked the spirits in Corsica.