Editor:
Re: Simple solutions to bottle battle, Feb. 28 letters.
I read with interest the letter to the editor written by Chantrell Creek Elementary pupil, Andrew Bishop.
While Andrew is to be commended for his commitment to environmental sustainability, he is focused on reducing the use of a product that is recommended for consumption within the Ministry of Education’s nutritional guidelines and, with an almost 70 per cent diversion rate nationally, is easily the most recycled consumer product found in a school cafeteria.
Andrew has the good fortune to live in a province that has one of the highest recycling rates for beverage containers in the world. According to Encorp Pacific, the industry steward responsible for beverage container recycling in B.C., slightly more than 80 per cent of beverage containers were recycled province-wide, last year. The Canadian beverage industry is working with consumers and local governments to improve on that rate.
While we are opposed to any banning of bottled water in schools, we are not opposed to the use of filtered-water filling stations or water fountains, as long as operating funds are in place to properly maintain both in accordance with public health unit regulations.
Why? Bottled water doesn’t compete with tap water. It competes with other bottled beverages. According to independent market research, 70 per cent of Canadians drink both tap water and bottled water. They drink tap water at home and bottled water away-from-home.
It should also be noted there are school boards in B.C. that don’t have access to potable water because of lead contamination issues and other challenges related to failing water and sewer infrastructure. Having a vending machine in those schools that includes bottled water is vital to the health and hydration of students and staff in those communities.
John B. Challinor II,
Nestlé Waters Canada
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Thank you to letter-writer Andrew Bishop and his friend for their ideas on creating solutions to the problem that plastic water bottles pose to our environment and to the health of our planet.
The ocean is becoming filled with plastic and this is having a devastating on the life in and around our oceans. Where does all this plastic come from? How can we take responsibility for this developing crisis?
I have taken part in many beach-cleaning endeavours, but we do not seem to be stopping the flow of plastic to our oceans.
Storm drains lead to the ocean. Our streets are often full of plastic litter, especially during recycling days, and much of this plastic is washed away down the storm drains to the oceans.
Individuals and municipal governments can deal with this significant problem by significantly reducing our use of plastic, cleaning up the plastic at the source and changing the storm drains so that they screen out all the plastic.
S. Watkins, White Rock