Petrolia, California, a city near Ontario, is considering banning the sale of all plastic water bottles.  This move is aimed at curbing the effects of plasitc water bottle waste.  However, the mayor of the city is questioning the usefulness of such a ban:

McCharles concedes plastic water bottles are an environmental hazard if they aren’t disposed of properly. But he questions whether an outright ban is the answer.

“There’s definitely an environmental problem with plastic bottles, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But if people were more conscious about recycling them, they wouldn’t be such a problem.”

Only 30% of all plastic water bottles are recycled.  That means millions of wasted bottles end up in landfills each year.  We encourage the citizens of Petrolia to write their mayor and voice their support of banning the bottle as well as recycling as there are benefits to doing both.

Washington University has recently launched a ban on plastic water bottle sales amid environmental concerns.  Faculty, students, and staff on the Danforth, North, and West campuses are no longer able to find bottled water in vending machines or campus eateries.

Because of concerns about the environmental impact of bottled water, the University has ended sales of the product, and administrative offices will no longer offer bottled water at events and meetings. Instead, faculty, staff, students, and guests are encouraged to drink tap water and use reusable water containers.

“Plastic bottled water represents significant energy and waste issues,” said Matt Malten, assistant vice chancellor for sustainability. “It requires tremendous amounts of energy in production, packaging, transportation and recycling. National statistics show that the rate plastic bottles are recycled is low and getting lower, as more end up in landfills,” Malten said. “Members of the Washington University community all have access to healthy water from a tap, and drinking tap water eliminates the generation of solid waste and energy usage to produce bottled water.”

The tap water in St. Louis was rated as best in the country by the U.S. Mayor’s Conference in 2007.  Henry S. Webber, executive vice chancellor for administration, has requested that the deans of each of the University’s schools stop offering bottled water at their school’s events. Tap water is readily available on the Danforth, North, and West campuses, said Liz Kramer, a fellow in the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Administration. Nearly all buildings on campus feature multiple drinking fountains, and cold-water containers are located in Holmes Lounge and Whispers Cafe in Olin Library. Kramer is in the process of mapping the locations of additional fountains on the Danforth Campus.

Reducing the use of bottled water on campus is just one of many steps WUSTL is taking to reduce its impact on the environment. And it’s a step, said Deborah Howard, special assistant to the executive vice chancellor for administration, that the administration couldn’t implement without the support of others on campus — especially Washington University Dining Services and students, who led their own campaign to promote the use of tap water on campus.

Last October, during Campus Sustainability Week, students hosted water taste tests to show that there is little taste difference between bottled water and tap water. Students also sold reusable water bottles at the Danforth University Center.

WUSTL is the first university to ban the sale and use of bottled water in its administrative offices, dining services and vending machines, Kramer said. Even with the changes, faculty, staff, and students still will be allowed to bring their own bottled water to campus.

[via The Record]

Starting May 16, bottled water will no longer be sold on the Belmont University, a school in Nashville Tennessee.

The announcement came on Monday at the beginning of Earth Week.  Belmont officials said they are trying to cut down on waste and decided bottled water is not practical for people or the environment.”We’re going to drink out of water fountains, get cups of water, what we did before we had (bottles) so readily available,” said Dr. Judy Skeen of Belmont University’s Environmental Initiative.

Purifying filters will be added to any water fountains on campus that did not already have them.

[via WSMV Nashville]

From May 2009 issue of Parents Magazine

Kidney stones may seem like an adult condition, but doctors say this painful problem is rapidly on the rise in children, typically striking around age 5.  Experts don’t fully understand what’s behind the increase, but they think kids are eating too many high-sodium foods (think fast food and quick-fix dinners) and not drinking enough water.  Stones form when kids’ urine is too concentrated with salt and other minerals.

If your child has pain in her mid to lower back or belly, and blood in her urine, a fever, or vomiting, go to your doctor or the E.R. right away – she may need surgery.  Once a child has had one stone, she has a 50 percent chance of having another, says Pasquale Casale, M.D., director of minimally invasive urologic surgery at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  He suggests looking at her pee before she flushes.  If it’s golden and the smell is strong, she could be dehydrated.  If it’s almost clear, she’s in the clear too.

Students at Seattle University are uniting to ban the bottle, part of a nationwide student-led initiative to stop the sale of bottled water on college campuses and promote sustainable alternatives.  2009 marks Seattle U’s second year of participation in Ban the Bottle. Last year there was not enough student and faculty support to facilitate a formal change in the university’s contract with Pepsi, the company who supplies Seattle U with Aquafina bottled water, said Seattle U alumni Gretchenrae Callanta, who co-led the campaign last year with fellow alumnus Nick McCarvel.

Ron Smith, Seattle U’s vice president of finance and business affairs, said the administrators are open to discussing a ban on bottled water.

“I think we are all in support of the educational process and trying to move in that direction,” he said.

Eco-conscious students unite to ‘Ban the Bottle’ [via The Spectator at Seattle University]

The University of Winnepeg has become the first university in Canada to ban all plastic water bottle sales.  The ban came after almost 75 per cent of students voted in favor during a recent referendum held by the University of Winnipeg Students’ Association.  The university expects all bottles to be removed by January of 2010.

While city water is tested daily, bottling companies don’t test their water as often. Louise Hénault-Éthier, environmental co-coordinator with Sustainable Concordia, believes that water bottles are unnecessary.

“The quality of tap water in Montreal is really high,” she said. “Bringing your own refillable container will allow you to have fresh, clean water available to you whenever you like by simply refilling it at the water fountain.”
The Students’ Society of McGill University has already taken a step in banning bottle sales in its building.

“McGill is committed to sustainable operation,” said Dennis Fortune, McGill’s Sustainability Director. “We believe we should be encouraging tap water.” Hénault-Éthier also points to the high price of bottled water. Water is a free resource, she said. “We shouldn’t need to purchase it.”

U of W bans sale of bottled water [Inside the Bottle]

Many municipalities have implemented restrictions on bottled water, urging Canadians to go back to the tap:

Posted By — News Canada

Can’t bring a plastic water bottle into work anymore?

You’re not alone.

According to the Polaris Institute, to date there are 27 municipalities from six provinces that have implemented restrictions on bottled water in city facilities.

And that’s only in Canada; various other cities in the United States, Europe and Australia are also placing bans on the highly popular plastic water bottle and mounting promotions to go ‘back to tap’.

It makes sense.

Statistics Canada says that almost a third of Canadian households are choosing to drink bottled water over tap.

And since as few as 50 per cent of the water bottles consumed in cities such as Toronto are recycled, that leaves millions of water bottles to plug up waste sites.

Toronto alone sends up to 65 million empty bottles to landfills every year.

In a further effort to curb the waste, Canadian cities such as Toronto, Metro Vancouver, Waterloo and more are promoting municipal tap water.

And why not?

Canada has some of the safest, cleanest and most accessible drinking water in the world.

In fact, not only is potable tap water available in most communities across the country, it is also far more regulated than bottled water.

It’s easier than you think to carry water with you at all times without resorting to disposable plastic.

Companies such as Canadian Thermos Products Inc. offer solutions with their line of reusable hydration bottles.

The double-wall vacuum insulation ensures water remains at optimal temperatures for up to 12 hours; something that plastic could never do when toted around in a hot car, cold skating rink, or even a room-temperature office building.

Here are just some of the benefits to switching from plastic to reusable water bottles:

• You’ll save money. A Canadian study showed that a 1 litre brand name bottle of water at $2.50 is 3,000 times more expensive than the equal amount of municipal tap water.
• You’ll help to divert plastic bottles from clogging up the landfills.  It takes 700 years before a plastic bottle will begin to decompose in a landfill.
• It’s easy to stay healthy and hydrated. A reusable hydration bottle is convenient to refill almost anywhere you go.
• You can ensure that the water you’re drinking is free of any harmful chemicals. Stainless steel hydration bottles are Bisphenol A (BPA) free, a chemical that can potentially migrate into the water from plastic bottles when stored.

The video below shows a computer animation comparing the US rate of plastic water bottle recycling (approx. 100 bottles/second) to the nonrecycled rate (approx. 845 bottles/second; see image) for 2005.

This computer animation was made to raise awareness about bottled water, and its surprisingly poor recycling rates. Since its recent popularization, bottled water (in all its flavors) has become ironically one of the most consumed, yet least recycled beverages. For example, it is estimated that in 2005 alone approximately 30 billion plastic water bottles were purchased in the US, with only about 12% recycled (in part due to out-dated deposit laws), and the remaining 25 billion bottles landfilled, littered or incinerated.