Venice in fountain drinking drive

Venice is famous for its many canals and gondolas

Tourist visiting Venice are to be encouraged to drink the water in a bid to help clean up the famous city.

A new scheme to cut down on bottled water consumption, called 100% Public, is being launched to mark World Environment Day.

Tourists will be given an empty water bottle with a map showing the location of 122 fountains around Venice.

It is hoped that providing the bottles will help keep waste down in the city as well as help people keep cool.

The bottles will contain a sticker with a slogan that says: "Don't throw me away, re-use me!"

Venice was chosen for the launch of the scheme because of its world-famous water links and its role as a tourist centre.

There are plans to take the project to Italy's other major cities.

According to Reuters news agency, Italians are the world's largest consumers of bottled water, despite the natural water in Italy's fountains being among the cleanest in the world.

World Environment Day is commemorated each year on 5 June, and is one of the ways in which the United Nations raises worldwide awareness of environmental issues.

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