Student Action

Canada: Stemming the flow of plastic; University of Guelph students marks World Water Week by exploring bottle ban

The Guelph Mercury. By Magda Konieczna -

A discussion about banning bottled water is heating up on the University of Guelph campus.

It's World Water Week, and a student group is encouraging individuals and groups to commit to not drinking bottled water.

They've had significant success, with many student councils and societies signing on to stop providing bottled water at their events.

While most seem to agree that tap water should be easily accessible, with jugs at meetings and taps installed in cafeterias, the question of whether to ban bottled water entirely has split students.

Sylvie Fojtik is part of Guelph Students for Environmental Change, which is having people commit to stop drinking bottled water. She hopes student-run restaurants will stop selling bottled water and wants to have a referendum next year asking students whether they'd support banning bottled water on campus.

"It's crucial to reach out to everyone who doesn't realize the harm of bottled water," she said, adding awareness is growing with local opposition to an application by water bottler Nestlé to renew its permit to take water.

The Graduate Students Association recently decided to keep selling bottled water in their student lounge, but not offer it free at meetings.

"We're absolutely in favour of the idea of stopping the commodification of water and the waste from bottled water," said Michael Schumaker, president of the association. "We've committed to stopping to provide it free."

The manager of the Bullring, the undergraduate-student-run lounge, also wants to keep bottled water on the shelves.

"I get the whole environmentally friendly thing, and we're down with that," Katrina Lindsay said. They're installing a deep sink next week to make it easy to fill reusable water bottles in the cafeteria.

"But I don't think we should be the dictator in making people not have a choice," she said.

Fojtik argued people who live in areas damaged by the chemical industry, like so-called Chemical Valley south of Sarnia, didn't have a choice when those companies decided to set up there.

"If they didn't have a choice, why do we have a choice to continue our lifestyles?" she asked. "With education and promotion and advertising, it will be possible."

The discussion comes as part of World Water Day celebrations, which has university groups across the country working to establish bottled-water-free zones and educating people about tap water.

mkonieczna@guelphmercury.com

IF YOU GO

Today, 5 p.m. -- University Centre room 103 for a screening of the documentary "Thirst" and a lecture by Wellington Water Watches member Mike Nagy about local water issues.

Saturday, noon -- St. George's Square, Save Our Water rally, featuring James Gordon and The Funky Mamas

More info -- gsec.ca/tap_in