Say "NO" to Bottled Water
By, Priya Wadhera, Grade 11
January 18, 2010
In recent years, the environment has become a big issue and global wide concern. Due to various tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, as well as rapid ice-cap melting, many believe that our planet is advancing towards an environmental crisis. However, many of these problems have simple, doable solutions. By making small changes in our lucrative lifestyles, we can all still make a difference and create a sustainable future.
This year, as a part its main goals for 2009-2010, the members of TWIGS have decided to take action in eliminating the sale of bottled water from Glebe’s vending machines. In early November, Noah Margo Demers, a grade 12 student, initiated this project by coming to a TWIGS’ meeting to share facts concerning bottled water. Noah had attended a workshop put on by the Polaris Institute, which highlighted the economic and health impacts of bottled water. He shared this information with the members of TWIGS in a power point presentation. We learned that the Aquafina bottled water sold in Glebe’s vending machines was actually tap water which had undergone a sterilizing process! During the sterilization, much of the water is lost due to evaporation, so that it takes 3 litres of tap water to produce 1 litre of bottled water. Noah also told us that tap water is actually safer to drink than bottled water because all sources of tap water are checked at least once every 6 hours in Ottawa. On the other hand, facilities producing bottled water may only be checked once a year! In addition, the plastic bottles are not reusable by most people and therefore, we use more gas and oil, both very valuable natural resources, in the manufacture of new plastic bottles.
After we heard Noah’s presentation, TWIGS’ members were eager to share the information with their friends and felt compelled to work on eliminating bottled water from the school’s vending machines. We realize that this is a vast project undertaking. Our first step will be to raise awareness in our school about the fact that the processing of bottling water consumes a lot of energy and uses precious fossil fuels in the production of the plastic bottle. We plan to do this by posting “water drops” facts around the school in creative ways. TWIGS also hopes to get more students to use the water fountains in the building by making them more attractive and appealing. Water fountains provide safer water, are less expensive, and are ultimately more environmentally friendly!
For more information on water-related issues, please visit www.insidethebottle.org.
