Community & Labour Action

Canada: Do we need to bottle drinking water?

North Shore News. By Kian Khoshnevis -

Bottled water may vanish from West Vancouver schools in the near future if administrators choose to follow the lead set by other school boards across the country.

The West Vancouver school board is aware of a motion to ban the sale of water bottles in school vending machines, but has yet to implement such a policy.

"Our district is committed to environmental and sustainability initiatives," said Chris Kennedy, assistant superintendent for West Vancouver schools. "There are no current plans in place, but we are always looking for ways to green our schools."

Some Canadian school boards have already implemented the ban and are in the midst of reducing waste. One of these, the Waterloo Region school board, applied the strategy in April, and is determined to completely remove bottles by 2009. Toronto and Ottawa-Carleton school districts have also shown interest and will vote on the motion later in the year.

Kennedy said West Vancouver will work towards a strategy that is equally beneficial for the health of students and for the environment.

"Our environmental and sustainability committee has discussed this issue and is looking at ways to help students make decisions that are healthy choices, and also good for the environment," he said. "We want them to overcome a perception that tap water is not of the same quality as bottled water available for purchase."

Cities have also taken initiative, with Nelson, B.C., and London, Ont., agreeing in June to fully ban bottles in municipal offices, parks, and other recreational areas.

Proponents of the ban see tap water as an alternative to environmentally unfriendly-packaged bottles. Tap water is clean, free and accessible to students, while bottles are costly and environmentally unfriendly, even if recycled.

Opponents, however, believe that such a ban will translate into higher soft-drink sales, which would be detrimental to student health and against the B.C. Ministry of Education's food and beverage sales guidelines.

North Vancouver school district has yet to discuss the issue.

© North Shore News 2008