Student Action

November 21st campus day of action: update and results

Picture of the Working Students' Centre's (Ryerson University) 'tower of consumption,' one of two actions campus organizers across the country participated in.

The November 21st day of action was jointly coordinated by the Polaris Institutes' ‘Inside the Bottle’ project and the Sierra Youth Coalition, both organizations actively work with student groups in Canada. The idea for a day of action emerged from a student forum (July, 2007) on the bottled water industry and beverage exclusivity contracts coordinated by the Inside the Bottle student campaign that representatives from nine Ontario universities attended.

Campus groups came together on November 21st conducted a bottled water taste test and/or a ‘tower of consumption’. The taste test pits tap water against bottled water and challenges participants to question their well cultivated preconceptions (thanks to the effective marketing of the bottled water industry) in the bottle vs. tap debate. The tower of consumption (built using empty water bottles) was used to visually convey how much waste is involved in the bottled water trend. Both actions were designed to give campus organizers an opportunity to open up dialogue with fellow students on the environmental-health, social-economic issues related to the bottled water trend and the questionable nature of beverage exclusivity contracts.

The day of action provided an opportunity to get new volunteers involved in the campaign and help increase coalition building amongst campus organizers across Canada with the goal of transforming individual campus actions into a growing student movement challenging the presence of bottled water on campus and aiming for the non-renewal of beverage exclusivity contracts.

In reference to running a taste at Memorial University, Adrian VanFranssen commented; “Students learned through the taste test that drinking tap water is the smarter choice, financially, socially and environmentally.” In discussing the day of action at the UBC-Okanagan campus with a local media reporter, the Sustainable Campus Club Chair, Mallory Hewlko stated, “We wanted to get a dialogue going on campus about the harmful affects of bottled water on personal health and the environment...We're trying to get rid of as much waste and pollution as possible and water bottles and bottled water is a huge contributor to that." The tower of consumption action was also effective in attracting the attention of fellow students as well as the media. When recounting their day of action, Rob, a volunteer with the Working Students’ Centre of Ryerson University shared, “We set up in a high-traffic lounge, just outside one of the primary cafeterias on campus, from 11 AM until 3 PM. After spending the preceding week collecting water bottles from recycling bins across campus, we were able to construct a fairly impressive tower of consumption, along with handing out a substantial number of reusable bottles to students with the promise that they would fill it with tap water and stop drinking bottled water.”

Evan, a volunteer who helped run a taste test at the University of Waterloo for the day of action as part of their Buy Nothing Day events, shared how it helped to demonstrate the need to renew their calls to end the universities’ contract with Coca Cola: “WPIRG's Students Against Sweatshops action group has taken on Coke's exclusive contract before on campus and now [having participated in the day of action] the need for our campus to be free of exclusivity contracts is even clearer.” When interviewed by the Guelph Mercury, Zoe Barrett-Wood spoke on behalf of the Guelph Students for Environmental Change in stating, "Our final goal is to get rid of bottled water...In the end, we want to not have it be provided." This particular group ran the day of action as part of their own water awareness week featuring a number of well attended panels, documentary screenings, street theatre and a workshop on bottled water featuring a Bottled Water Campaigner with Polaris Institute. With this goal in mind, the group is approaching faculties, unions and groups on campus using the prototype motion to ban bottled water found in the ‘Inside the Bottle student awareness to action kit.’

Participating campus groups included: ; Guelph Students for Environmental Change, Working Students' Centre of the Ryerson students' Union, OPIRG-Brock, University of Toronto Students' Union, Lakehead Campus Sustainability Committee, MUN Oxfam group of Memorial University, UBC-Okanagan Sustainable Campus Club, OPIRG-Ottawa and Oxfam-UO of Ottawa University and Waterloo Public Interest Research Group (WPIRG).

For pictures and to read some more of the campus organizers comments, refer to the sidebar 'campaign activities' and click 'read more' for the November 21st campus day of action update and results.

The day of action was featured in the following newspapers and radio shows:
•Konieczna, Magda. "U of G Students Join water Fight." The Guelph Mercury.
•Green, Sarah. "Before you take Another sip, Read these Facts." The Toronto Sun
•Rush, Curtis. "Bottled water Wasteful, Overpriced: Students." The Toronto Star
•Moore, Wayne. "Dangers of bottled water." Kelowna News.
•Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal. Picture of student organizer conducting bottled water taste test featured on front page, November 22nd
•Kaminski, Courtney. "Testing the Waters of the Bottled Water Industry." The Brock Press.
•The Ryersonian. Ryerson university student newspaper featured a picture of the 'tower of consumption.'
•CBC television, St John's Newfoundland. Story on MUN Oxfam group’s bottled water taste test featured on November 21st
• CBC radio, St John's Newfoundland. Story on MUN Oxfam group’s bottled water taste test featured on November 21st.
•101.5 Silk FM, Kelowna British Colombia.