Mayor still fluid on bottled water issue
Bottled water won't be disappearing from city facilities anytime soon
Bottled water won’t be disappearing from city facilities anytime soon despite a call from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for cities and towns to phase out the sale and purchase of bottled water at municipal facilities.
“That’s something we’d have to have a discussion about,” Mayor Bev Buckway said in an interview Tuesday. She expects a staff report on the matter will likely come to council in the next month, she added.
The FCM passed the resolution at a board meeting in Victoria last Saturday after the cities of Toronto and London, Ont. brought it forward.
Some municipalities have already passed bylaws that restrict the sale and purchase of bottled water within their operations, the resolution points out.
It goes on to state bottled water consumes large amounts of fuel in production, packaging and transport, “creating unnecessary air quality and climate change impacts.”
It also takes about three litres of water to manufacture a one-litre plastic bottle, with companies using municipal and groundwater when a rising number of municipalities in the country have faced water shortages.
Although the bottles can be recycled, anywhere between 40 per cent and 80 per cent of them end up in municipal landfills, the FCM stated in the resolution.
Tap water, meanwhile, it’s pointed out, is safe, healthy and readily available and “substantially more sustainable than bottled water”.
“Be it resolved that the Federation of Canadian Municipalities urge all municipalities to phase out the sale and purchase of bottled water at their own facilities where appropriate and where potable water is available; and
“Be it further resolved that municipalities be urged to develop awareness campaigns about the positive benefits and quality of municipal water supplies.”
Jean Perrault, the FCM’s president and Quebec mayor, noted the resolution shows how municipalities are leading by example in encouraging environmentally sustainable water choices.
It does not, however, call for a complete ban on the sale of bottled water.
“Regulating bottled water for public consumption falls under provincial and federal jurisdiction,” Perrault said.
“All orders of government must work together to reduce reliance on a product that produces more waste, costs more and uses more energy than simple, dependable municipal tap water.”
While the city typically has a jug of tap water available for council meetings and lunch time sessions, Buckway said there are some of the larger water bottles around available to city staff in city buildings.
Bottled water is also available in the vending machines at recreational facilities at the Canada Games Centre as a healthy drink option, Buckway explained.
But so too are there water fountains that provide free drinking water to those using sites like the Canada Games Centre.
While the city may discuss the possibility of phasing out in the future, Buckway didn’t say whether she would favour it, instead stating it “certainly gives one cause for thoughtful reflection on the whole issue.”
The mayor noted the resolution may help bring attention to the federal government - the need of some communities to get funding to have access to good, safe drinking water.
“The need is there,” she said.
Arn Anderson
Mar 12, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Guess what will still be there, soda products. They use plastic bottles, but somehow they fly under the radar. Im really surprised that something healthy is being dumped yet unhealthy sugary drinks are here to stay in these facilities. Major sugary drinks producers are laughing it up as they rake in the profits. Sure they lose the bottled water but they gain all that space with more carbonated/uncarbonated drinks.
Maybe the bottled water should have a couple of teaspoons of sugar in it to make it legal.