A perennial best seller could be conspicuously absent from school cafeterias and vending machines throughout the county as early as next year.
The Upper Grand District School Board has proposed a strategy that will effectively ban the sale of bottled water in all its schools.
On Sept. 16 the board unanimously passed a motion to “develop a strategy as soon as possible to eliminate the sale of bottled water from cafeterias and vending machines in all facilities by December 2009.”
As part of the decision, which is expected to be ratified at the board’s regular meeting on Sept. 30, the board will ensure existing contracts with suppliers and vendors are not broken.
Trustee Mark Bailey, who introduced the matter last week, said UGDSB high schools received about $23,000 in water bottle commission across the board for the 2006-07 school year.
“His thinking was, ‘why do we need to drink bottled water when there’s perfectly good water of a higher standard that comes right out of the tap,’ ” communications officer Maggie McFadzen said, paraphrasing Bailey’s presentation to the board.
McFadzen added the board will have to consider cost, alternatives, and other factors before deciding if eliminating the sale of bottled water is a viable solution.
If ratified next week, the board’s decision could eliminate the sale of bottled water, but it is not an outright ban of the product or plastic bottles in general.
In his memorandum to the board, Bailey said “viable alternatives” to bottled water, which accounts for about half of all sales from school vending machines, could include “filtered refilling stations or large volume water coolers for reusable water containers.”
The school board has an exclusive contract with Pepsi, which means the only the Aquafina brand of bottled water is sold in its schools. The Advertiser contacted Pepsi – Aquafina officials but they did not respond by press time.
John Challinor, director of corporate affairs with Nestlé Waters Canada, was not happy with the board’s decision, despite Nestlé not having any water bottles for sale in local schools.
“It’s a matter of principle,” Challinor said.
He told the Advertiser it makes little sense for the school board to eliminate the most healthy beverage available to students and replace it with less healthy alternatives, especially considering the prevalence of obesity in youths.
Challinor added that eliminating water bottles will not help with waste, as the board will likely be replacing them with other products in plastic bottles.
He also took issue with some of the information Bailey provided for trustees, which he said did not come from anyone in the industry, but was likely taken off the internet from environmental organizations that don’t do any research.
“We do more tests in two weeks than the City of Guelph does in a year,” he said, refuting Bailey’s claims that municipal water faces “more stringent and more frequent” quality testing.
Regarding waste, Challinor said Bailey was wrong when he told the board “nine out of ten plastic water bottles are not recycled, even if disposed of in a blue bin.” Challinor explained that according to Stewardship Ontario the recovery rate ranges from 55 to 80%.
And if the issue is about buying water when municipal water is already available, Challinor said a vast majority of water fountains are not properly maintained.
“Is Mr. Bailey prepared to increase the board’s operating budget to ensure they are properly maintained and not shut down by health officials?” he asked, adding other alternatives would also increase costs.
Challinor said his company will be making an appearance at the board’s regular meeting on Sept. 30 to explain “the facts” and make the board aware of recycling opportunities.
“We’re concerned about his motion,” Challinor said of the memorandum Bailey presented to the board.
