By Brent Patterson, Council of Canadians
(Niagara At Large has already carried a piece on this momentous announcement by Niagara College to ban bottled water on campus and talk to its students about the reasons for the ban and other, more environmentally and economically sustainable ways of protecting, preserving and consuming water. Now here is a follow up from the Ottawa-based public interest group Council of Canadians whose leader Maude Barlow was at the school earlier this 2012 to address this and other environmental issues.
Wouldn’t it be great if Brock University and other public educational institutions in the greater Niagara region followed Niagara College’s lead? Wouldn’t it?)
Niagara College has 8,000 full-students, including more than 500 international students from more than 60 countries, studying at its four campuses in southern Ontario: the Welland Campus in Welland, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Maid of the Mist Campus in Niagara Falls, and the Ontario Street Site in St. Catharines.
Maude Barlow, head of the Council of Canadians, at Niagara College earlier this 2012. Photo courtesy of Council of Canadians
This past May, Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow addressed faculty and staff at the College’s ‘Day of Reflection’ held at its Niagara-on-the-Lake campus. Inside NC reported at that time, “The event’s keynote speaker was Maude Barlow, who spoke about the global water crisis. Blasting the ‘myth of abundance’, she noted that there is a finite amount of water in the world and a dire need to protect our precious water supplies. … She underlined the need for greater measures to protect the Great Lakes and encouraged the NC community to visit the Council of Canadian’s Website at canadians.org.”
Fiona McMurran, right and a Niagara representative for the Council of Canadians, offers information to students during Maude Barlow’s visit to Niagara College earlier this 2012.
This morning, South Niagara chapter activist Fiona McMurran shares the news, as noted in a Niagara College news release, that, “Niagara College is tapping into a new sustainability initiative by implementing a new ban on the sale of plastic water bottles on campus. …’Banning bottled water has the obvious benefit of reducing waste from plastic bottles and supports the notion that everyone has the right – not the privilege – to clean drinking water, and it should not be sold as a commodity,’ (said) Taryn Wilkinson, the College’s environmental project coordinator. …The ban comes into effect in September to be followed by a bottled water reduction campaign during the 2012 academic year. The College’s sustainability ambassadors will help educate staff and students with blind taste tests, movie showings and information sessions about bottled water and reasons for the ban.”
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post.)
Niagara At Large 
I would have hoped that all bottled or can sodas would be on that list of items banned. I expect that the water in the fountain is filtered because my city water water at home may be safe but smells of chemicals. Thanks for good filtering system that problem is minimized. Now that you banned bottled water, will the preferred choice of drink be a coke or pepsi at the college?? Caustiously optimistic!
LikeLike
Would it help to know that there is a solution to the concept that there is no solution to the ever growing problem of mountains of plastic bottles winding up in our landfill sites.
For more info on a possible solution click here: http://plastic2oil.com/site/home
LikeLike