Bottled Water Faces Increasingly Strong Opposition
A glimpse at the bottled water debate.
The debate rages on as regular Canadian citizens begin to hear the buzz to remove bottled water from municipalities and cities. Even Bishop’s University might be hit by this wave before the school year is over. But what is the bottled water debate, and why should we be so concerned over it?
There are two sides to every issue. One wants bottled water to continue to be distributed and consumed, while the other wants bottled water restricted or banned. Sounds simple. However, the issue isn’t black & white, and many people have a hard time choosing a side, as both have excellent points.
When arguing for the removal of bottled water, one of the major issues is with what’s left after the water is consumed. That’s right – the bottle. Despite recycling, an overabundance of plastic water bottles ends up in landfills every year. Some bottles can even be seen in lakes and rivers because they were not properly thrown out in the first place. Another point is that we use up so much gas for the transportation of these water bottles, which creates a lot of carbon emissions that end up in the earth’s atmosphere.
The other side of the debate argues that banning or removing bottled water from areas would give consumers a greater incentive to drink unhealthy beverages. For example, if someone wants something to drink while on the road, the alternatives to bottled water would be juices, which are full of unnecessary sugars, and soft drinks, which are obviously less healthy than water.
Another point against removing bottled water is that not everyone wants or will carry around a water bottle with them at all times. When people go shopping, they don’t want to carry around a water bottle with them all over the mall. So, even if bottled water is gone, other unhealthy drinks will be there, waiting to be purchased out of convenience.
Considering that our bodies are composed of at least 70% water, we need to consume water continuously in order to stay healthy. Because of this, the question of which is healthier, tap or bottled water, arises.
On one hand, people who are for bottled water remind us of the incident in Walkerton, Ontario in which the water supply became contaminated with the E. Coli bacteria. They want us to remember that tap water isn’t always safe. On the other hand, those who are against bottled water are constantly performing various tests, from simple taste tests to tests checking for bacteria, to show us that that there is very little difference between the two.
The issue with the emergence of bottled water is that it puts a price on water. Some say that the price you pay is for the convenience, but if you are seriously dehydrated and go up to a vending machine, you are not getting that water unless you fork over some cash. That is the main problem for those against bottled water, aside from the environmental issues. Many believe that water should be accessible to everyone since it is a necessity, and water bottle production companies should not be profiting off of that.
That being said, proper water facilities, like water fountains and water coolers, should be distributed appropriately to discourage the use of bottled water. A good example of the location of a water fountain would be to place one directly beside vending machines, that way if someone is thirsty they have the option to consume free water. Another way to reduce bottled water consumption would be to advertise different ways of making reusable water bottles easy and convenient to use.
No matter what side you’re on, be creative! There are lots of solutions out there to solve our environmental issues. So, if debating isn’t your thing, you can still help out by bringing forth new ideas.
