Bottled water-free campuses encourage students to choose more unhealthy drinks, according to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA).
The IBWA, which represents the bottled water industry, said banning the sale of bottled water on campuses simply forces students to buy juice, pop or other caffeinated drinks.
“Research by owners of vending machines shows when bottled water is not available in a vending machine, people choose other packaged beverages . . . They don’t necessarily go looking for a drinking water fountain,” said Chris Hogan, vice-president (communications) in a press release.
The IBWA recently released a video which compares different student activist movements with what the IBWA said are misconceptions about bottled water.
The video, the group said, is in response to a continuing trend on North American campuses to cut down or outright ban the sale of bottled water for ethical and environmental reasons.
Emily McFarlane, a third-year cultural studies student at Trent University, said she thinks bottled water free campuses aren’t a good idea. Trent’s choice to go completely bottled water free is a step in the wrong direction, McFarlane said.
“The people who carry reusable water bottles around campus are already carrying them,” she said. “Those who aren’t may have made a healthier choice if bottled water was still sold.”
Carleton University is currently trying to phase out bottled water with a five-year plan, but the Carleton University Students’ Association’s (CUSA) businesses decided to stop selling bottled water over a year ago, according to Chantle Beeso, CUSA vice-president (student issues.)
Just because they can’t buy bottled water on campus doesn’t mean students will automatically choose a more unhealthy beverage, Beeso said.
“If someone needs water, they’re going to find water. They’re not necessarily going to the alternative of [juice or pop],” she said.
The most important thing is to make being bottled water free convenient for students, Beeso said. Beeso said offering free reusable bottles to students at the beginning of the school year and also installing more water refill stations are ways to encourage students to avoid bottled water.
“It’s about finding alternatives to bottled water,” she said.
Cassandra Preston, a second-year anthropology student at York University, said she likes that her school is trying to phase out bottled water.
“I think it encourages people to make healthier choices,” she said. “If I buy food in the cafeteria, when I think about what drink I want, I just have my own water that I have already. It’s ridiculous to pay for something that is free for all, like water.”
Bottled water is the most heavily recycled plastic beverage bottle, and the plastic from bottled water contributes to a very small amount of waste in landfills, according to Hogan.
“Bottled water containers are the most highly recycled containers in curbside programs
. . . So, getting rid of bottled water on campus will not make a significant improvement to waste issues,” he said.
But Beeso said the carbon footprint created from bottled water doesn’t just stop at the actual bottle itself, but is also caused by the packaging and transportation of the water.
“It’s not fair to say that the waste created from bottled water is insignificant,” Beeso said. “If it’s that small, it should not be that hard to do and we should be working to completely eliminate it.”
