Hospitality Services says ban would be a “slippery slope”
In 2012, when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a municipal ban on the sale of large, sugary drinks, he sparked controversy. That proposal prompted civil libertarians to attack the mayor’s office for overstepping its bounds. Yet, perhaps oddly, the same people who opposed that legislation were also perfectly willing to acknowledge that sugary drinks are indeed bad for public health.
A similar dispute continues to play out at the University of Guelph. Though the issue here is not with sugary drinks, but bottled water, the question is still the same: should freedom of choice be impaired for the sake of the ‘public good.’
While all parties agree that the use of bottled water should be discouraged – each citing various environmental reasons – there is disagreement about whether it should be banned outright.
The Central Student Association (CSA) held a rally in Branion Plaza on Oct. 22 to raise awareness about the continued selling of bottled water on campus. The rally intended to remind students that the university has not stopped the sale of bottled water on campus despite the fact that, in a 2012 referendum, 78 per cent of students polled voted against its continued sale.
“Currently, 25 Canadian post-secondary institutions have committed and taken action to eliminate the sale, distribution, and use of bottled water,” says Dominica McPherson, the CSA’s External Affairs Commissioner and organizer of the CSA’s TapIn campaign. “In fact, some schools have committed to much more than what the CSA is requesting of the administration, including ending the sale of all water products with three ingredients or less and a campus-wide ban extending beyond sale alone.”
“The University of Guelph not joining these schools is shameful considering Guelph students started the Canadian bottled-water-free movement in 2008, boosting the university’s environmental reputation nationally,” added McPherson.
David Boeckner, the Executive Director of Hospitality Services, which is the office responsible for distributing bottled water on campus, says that banning bottled water is a “slippery slope,” and points out that “the majority of schools” have said they want to provide choice.
“Once you start banning some products, pretty soon other groups come out and want to ban other products,” says Boeckner. “If the demand is there, we’ll sell it. In the case of bottled water, our demand goes up every year.”
The extent to which people are voting with their wallet should not be discounted, according to Hospitality Services. But the CSA counters that there is support for the ban even among purchasers of bottled water, an argument the association uses to suggest that people need to be more actively discouraged from its sale.
In spite of these differences, both the CSA and Hospitality Services have undertaken measures to encourage the use of tap water as a better alternative to bottled water.
“[Bottled water] is one of many things, and we are trying to address it through education. But it’s not something that we believe you should dictate to people…We have tap water at all Hospitality Service locations on campus and we have a large sustainability program,” said Boeckner. “Part of that sustainability plan is promoting reusable mugs and containers.”
But, said McPherson, “As long as students continue to express their frustration and disappointment in the administration for not agreeing to end the sale of bottled water on campus, the CSA will continue to pressure the university to stand up to its environmental reputation and listen to the student voice.”
Adding its voice to the debate, albeit implicitly, the department of Landscape Architecture placed a large, free-floating tap in Branion Plaza on Nov. 4. Accompanying it was a sign that listed four reasons why students should switch to tap water.
Maurice Nelischer, Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture helped erect the display and opposes a ban the bottled water, saying education is preferable.
Professor Ben Bradshaw, Associate Professor Geography, echoed this sentiment at the Oct. 22 CSA rally. He was there speaking about the need for greater cooperation between the CSA and Hospitality Services:
“I am not here to rally against the decision by Hospitality Services to continue to sell bottled water; it is their prerogative to make such a decision, though I believe they will be found to be on the wrong side of history.”
While the CSA is not alone it its determination to have people to switch to tap water, its real challenge will be finding allies within the university administration who will support the outright ban. Most of the administration now appears reluctant to support such a measure, and favours instead – perhaps unsurprisingly – educational measures alone.