Social justice campaigner reinforces bottled-water ban option
Jamie Ross – The Aquinian
Bottled water is bad, a Polaris Institute campaigner told an audience of about 12 people last week.
“It’s an issue people are talking about, and people are wondering, ‘what’s the big deal,’” said Elly Adeland. “There’s the environmental aspect, the social economic aspect.”
Adeland, a speaker with the Ottawa-based anti-corporate organization, came to STU to speak about the downside of bottled water in the midst of a STUSU referendum campaign on the issue.
She says the popularity of bottled water has emerged over the past 10 years.
The willingness to pay for bottled water, she said, shows support for the privatization of a public good.
“When people are starting to depend on bottled water, we’re telling the government, ‘don’t worry about public drinking water, we’re willing to pay,’” she said.
She said it’s troubling that people are willing to consume private water when there are over 100 First Nations communities in Canada without access to potable drinking water.
The SU has already pledged allegiance to the Coalition for a Bottled Water Free Campus, a group started by students of the late professor John McKendy.
But council is seeking a student mandate before it proceeds with a lobbying effort to phase out the sale of bottled water at STU.
Adeland said people drink bottled water because it’s viewed as an alternative to pop or juice in vending machines. It’s perceived as having health benefits, it may taste better than municipal waters, or public water fountains aren’t accessible.
Mary-Dan Johnston, vice president administration on the SU, said phasing out the sale of bottled water at STU is a move that will help improve environmental sustainability at St. Thomas, an area where the school scored a C- grade in a recent Globe and Mail university report.
But the process might not be a short one and could take years to complete, she said.
STU is the third signatory (with UNB Fredericton and UNB Saint John) in a seven-year contract with Pepsi, giving the company the exclusive right to supply drinks to campus.
St. Thomas spokesperson Jeffrey Carleton has stated students enjoy significant financial benefits running into tens of thousands of dollars annually from the contract.
The referendum question will read: “Considering the environmental and social impacts of bottled water, do you support the Student Union advocating that the University phase out the sale of bottled water on campus?”
Twenty per cent of the student body must vote on the matter for the outcome to be deemed valid.
Memorial University, Brandon University and University of Winnipeg have all ended the sale of bottled-water on campus.
