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Teachers behind bottle ban in School District 42
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by amyjudd | June 24, 2008 at 10:44 am
767 views | 31 Recommendations | 9 comments
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Water bottles may be banned from all school vending machines in School District 42 (Maple Ridge / Pitt Meadows) in order to help alleviate their impact on the environment.
Water must be available to students in schools for health reasons, but considering schools have water fountains, it is not necessary to sell bottles of water that can damage the environment.
If the measure is passed, it will be the first district the the Lower Mainland to do so.
Bonnie Hart, a teacher at Yennadan Elementary is Maple Ridge is behind the measure 100%. "I think it is a great idea", she says. "It's not only cheaper, but much better for the enviroment if students bring their own hard plastic bottles and just keep refilling them. I see so many bottles tossed in the garbage and I make my students pick them out again."
Ms Hart says that all the teachers she has spoken to are behind the measure as well.
It may be difficult for the district to break their contract with Coca-Cola so that is still something that they have to look at, but the discussion is definitely a part of the board meetings.
The debate is still ongoing as to how long it takes a plastic water bottle to decompose in a landfill. Some sources says 70 years, and others say it can take up to 450 years.
Regardless of the length of time, banning them from schools would have a positive impact on our environment and would be the right step in a very positive direction towards more environmental awareness.
See some previous NowPublic coverage here.
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at 11:05 on June 24th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Great article Amy!
And kudos to School District 42 for being a leader in finding ways to protect the environment.
I'm just glad I'm not in school anymore so I don't have to drink the warm, funky tasting water from the fountains... or maybe that was just my school?
at 11:33 on June 24th, 2008
That sounds like a great initiative. Hopefully the Coke contract doesn't slow things down, though. There are rumors that UBC's deal with Coke forbids the construction of water fountains in new buildings.
at 15:22 on June 24th, 2008
Thanks for the info Julian. I wasn't aware of that.
at 12:32 on June 24th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. The schools are going to have to do better than the yucky water fountains most of them have now. You're lucky if all you are faced with is used gum when you go to get a drink. There are health considerations about putting your mouth so close to where others have been. The hard plastic bottles are being phased out because they leach harmful chemicals into the drinking water. Glass breaks. There aren't any quick fixes.
at 15:13 on June 24th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. I hope other school districts follow in their footsteps. I also hope a better water solution comes into play, it would be great to see Coke come up with an alternative option that would be environmental friendly.
at 15:34 on June 24th, 2008
I'm agree, this is a very good idea but... how many disposal cups people use per day just for coffee?
If you are a regular coffee take away drinker, why don't you get a reusable mug?
If we can do it with something as important as water I'm sure will be way easier with other aspects of our habits.
at 16:58 on June 24th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. Any move in environmentally friendly direction is a good move.
at 18:45 on August 24th, 2008
I am all for the environment but I think people need to think things through before jumping on the bandwagon. Reading others posts I see that some people feel the same way.
Problem no.1
The schools do not maintain their water Fountains. In my old high school most fountains didn't work and if they did there was no water pressure. They were never cleaned and they stunk. Kids spit in them as well.
Any facility that bans water sales should have the health authority come and test the fountains for bacteria and heavy metals. Our schools are falling apart and those pipes are old.
Proplem no.2
Some areas in the Fraser Valley have boil water alerts from time to time. Cryptosperium (sp?) is a real concern. There are waterborne diseases that can make someone with a weaken immune system really sick or possibly kill them. This is why choices are important.
Problem no.3
There is a lot more we could instead of a ban on water sales.
-IMO every school should have a recycling container next to the garbage. Are we forgetting about all the pop cans that end up in landfills as well? Recycling programs are a way for a school to earn extra cash.
-I would love to see deposits increased from 5 cents to 10 or 15 cents per bottle. That would encourage people to be more consertive when deciding to buy or not and weather to recycle or not.
- Students should have access to taps. Students and teachers should be encouraged to use re-usable water containers, there are some really funky ones out there that don't contain the poison plastic coating.
If something should be banned it should be those bloody styrofoam coolers that boaters leave behind on the beaches.
at 18:15 on April 29th, 2009
THIS IS NSUM BULL SHIT SELL THAT SHIT