The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) debated a plan at its Oct. 19 meeting to reverse its own ban on selling plastic bottled water in its stores.
Craig Handy, CUSA vice-president (finance), introduced the motion. He said it allows the student union to take a more aggressive stance on making Carleton bottled water-free.
“Through constantly looking at this issue, I’m sick of the limbo we’re in, so we’re fighting plastic with plastic,” Handy said.
In 2011, CUSA passed a motion to try to pressure Carleton to ban the sale of bottled water on campus by not selling them in its University Centre convenience store, Henry’s. It was hoped this would be the first step to having them completely removed from campus.
This has not happened, however, as bottles of water are still sold in vending machines and stores at Carleton not run by CUSA.
The current plan has three parts, Handy said. The first is to cut down the profit made by Aramark, the company that runs vending machines at Carleton, from selling water, he said. This will be done by selling it at a cheaper price at Henry’s to encourage students to buy it there.
The second part is to educate students about the environmental impact of disposable bottles when they buy them. Signs and posters will be put up around Henry’s to inform students.
The third part of CUSA’s plan is to use 50 per cent of their profits from selling water to help fund environmentally friendly clubs and organizations on campus.
Handy said he hopes with this plan there will no longer be bottled water for sale on campus by 2017.
After debate on the issue, it was decided the motion should be sent to a student issues committee for further review.
Sean Smith, CUSA vice-president (student life), said they can see what other universities have done about water and come up with a detailed report and action plan moving forward.
Sebastian Srugo, councillor for science, was opposed to the motion and disputed the claim that Dasani bottles, the type of water that would be sold by CUSA, are actually environmentally friendly.
“Just because it’s 30 per cent made of plant doesn’t mean it’s biodegradable. [Handy] said this is the lesser evil but it’s not, it’s the same evil,” he said.
CUSA would be selling the Dasani bottles because of their contract with Coca-Cola Inc., which owns and distributes Dasani.
The Carleton chapter of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group is also opposed to CUSA’s plan to bring back the sale of bottled water.
They made pamphlets to educate students that list reasons why it is opposed to the plan. Some reasons include the fact that not all plastic bottles are recycled and some companies producing bottled water abuse natural springs.
