London, Ont., to ban bottled water

by julianw | August 19, 2008 at 03:51 pm

789 views | 5 Recommendations | 18 comments

Ignoring the shrill protests of the "beverage industry," councillors in London, Ontario, on Monday voted to ban the sale of bottled water on city property.

City councillors in London, Ont., have voted to ban the sale of bottled water on city premises despite protests from the beverage industry. The 15-3 vote late Monday came after heated debate in the municipality on the role of bottled water at city facilities such as city-owned buildings, arenas and community centres. Municipal officials have maintained that tap water costs about an eighth of a cent per litre while bottled water can range anywhere from 30 cents to $4 a bottle. Environmentalists have said they are concerned by the amount of energy it takes to transport the bottles, as well as the waste produced by them, particularly when most areas of Canada have safe water supplies.

London may have lost its shot at making the Canadian Bottled Water Association's Hall of Fame, but it will join St. John's city hall and B.C. school district 42 on a growing list of institutions making smart, progressive decisions about water consumption.

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jwill9311

at 01:41 on August 20th, 2008

i am concerned about the amount of waste created by bottled water. i have taken to just refilling a reusable sports bottle with a brita filter in it. One of the things that really got me was when a gallon of water i bought listed its source as the city of chicago municipal water plant. pying for tap water did seem silly.

Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 02:56 on August 20th, 2008

julianw, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Great news!

HckySo

at 07:08 on August 20th, 2008

HckySo has contributed a photo to this story.

Eric Velarde

at 07:26 on August 20th, 2008

Eric Velarde has contributed a photo to this story.

Rossthe8oss

at 07:48 on August 20th, 2008

my picture! yay.

Rossthe8oss has contributed a photo to this story.

appropedia

at 09:18 on August 20th, 2008

Between the high embedded energy, colossal/rarely recycled waste stream, and the dubious health effects it seems that it is time to lower our use of bottled water. Even more so in light of a readily available and inexpensive water source like the North American tap.

appropedia has contributed a photo to this story.

quit.nguyen

at 09:34 on August 20th, 2008

thanks for choosing my photo

quit.nguyen has contributed a photo to this story.

simmmy

at 09:48 on August 20th, 2008

Water bottle, water rulez!!

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simmmy

at 09:50 on August 20th, 2008

thanks for choosing my photo!!

albandri

at 10:14 on August 20th, 2008

thanx 4 picking my pic =)

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robday

at 14:56 on August 20th, 2008

robday has contributed a photo to this story.

dragonfire72

at 05:42 on August 21st, 2008

I am glad to see that we are becoming wiser about waste and recycling! Glad to share my photo!

dragonfire72 has contributed a photo to this story.

$recklessdiffraction$

recklessdiffraction

at 15:53 on August 21st, 2008

Why single water out?

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Johanna (not verified)

at 19:16 on August 21st, 2008

I agree that bottled water creates a lot of waste, but I'm not sure a ban is the answer. It may sound snobby, but I would not want use a water fountain in a public place. Gross. I think it makes more sense to concentrate efforts on encouraging recycling and reusable containers.