Banning Bottled Water

So, bottled water, eh? Well I’ll kick off the dialog (keyword dialog, not necessarily debate; let’s be open minded here) with a few of my thoughts on the topic, and you can feel free to chime in with yours. This is by no means extensive, but it’s a start.

Some of my main beefs with bottled water are as follows:

o The fact that we are willing to buy water in bottles blows my mind. The geniuses who first made water into a commodity are also likely keeping the wool industry afloat, as they have seemingly pulled it over the eyes of the collective free world.

o Shipping water from Évian-les-Bains, France, to drink in Canada, is also a marketing wonder. When you consider the amount of energy it takes to produce bottled water and then ship it, it’s pretty ridiculous. Check out this article in the Economist.

o Does our water really taste all that bad? Having got giardiasis last summer from tainted water in Ghana, I guess my standards are a bit lower than most, but I’m still convinced that most of it is psychosomatic.

o The plastic issue: sure, it’s an issue, but it’s not one that has personally turned me against bottled water in particular. For the sake of focus, I’ll keep my sights on water as a commodity.

My current thoughts on an approach we could take (which is very much open to change if you convince me):

o Inform people of the issues regarding bottled water.

o Provide refillable stainless steel canteens at little to no cost.

o Support the initiative in any other way we can, and let people decide for themselves.

Thoughts?
–
Ryan Brideau
VP External - UNB Student Union