Student Action

Canadian first: U of W bans bottled water

By Rochelle Francis

The University of Winnipeg will be the fi rst university in Canada to implement a ban on the sale of bottled water on its campus. After a recent student-initiated referendum, 75 per cent of U of W’s students voted to ban the sale of bottled water. This was the highest voter turnout at the university in years. “After getting the feedback during the campaign, we were very happy with the support from the referendum,” said David Jacks, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students in Manitoba. Jacks said the CFS supported a motion at a meeting in May 2008 to phase out bottled water across the country. The U of W plans to slowly phase out the sale of bottled water from vending machines, stores on campus and the cafeteria by the start of the fall 2009 semester. “We think that the impact from an environmental standpoint will be huge,” said Stephanie Chartrand, environmental ethics director with the U of W students’ association. “We are going to encourage people to bring their own water bottles and will be distributing water bottles at the beginning of the next school year.” The university will be conducting a water audit, Chartrand said. It will check to ensure that all taps and water fountains are safe to drink from and that there are enough water fountains for people to fill their own water bottles from. During the advertising campaign to spread the word about banning the sale of bottled water at the university, the U of W students’ association conducted a taste test. “Some people had no idea [which was the bottled water and which was the tap water]. It seems like people just guessed and got it right,” Chartrand said. The motion to ban bottled water came not only as a way to help the environment. It initially arose due to human rights concerns. “The biggest argument against the motion was that if bottled water isn’t sold, we do not have the right to choose what we drink. However, students later understood that that wasn’t the issue,” Chartrand said. “Water, like air, is something that everyone needs to survive,” Chartrand said. “The commoditization of water is against basic human rights. Those who can’t afford to pay for water can’t have it.” “Some people don’t understand [the ban] is not just for recycling purposes. Some people argued, why just ban bottled water and not other recyclable products. It is the human rights aspect that we are looking at,” Chartrand said. The U of W is a small university but by setting an example, it gives other institutions the motivation to go all the way and ban bottled water, Chartrand said. The university has already initiated composting programs and is building a new science complex for environmental studies. 