Californian city becomes first major county to ban the sale of plastic water bottles in public spaces
On Tuesday March 4, San Francisco announced their plan to ban the sale of plastic water bottles in public spaces in an effort to reduce waste. Though plastic water bottles are recyclable, they are often disposed of incorrectly, and thus contribute to pollution, consequentially resulting in climate change.
The failure to recycle water bottles correctly is quite common because many people do not remove the plastic labels and caps that come with the bottle. “It is estimated that only one out of every six water bottles used is actually recycled,” said Catherine Clarke Fox of National Geographic. Oftentimes water bottles end up in the garbage instead of the recycling bins.
Not only is it a problem that the improper disposal of water bottles leads to climate change, but there is also the issue of water becoming a commodity. “The water bottle industry is said to be worth more than $60 billion,” said Joshua Sabatini, a journalist from The Examiner. Though water is a basic human need, it has become a consumer product used to make money. Through buying more bottled water, we continue to encourage the bottled water industry to grow and to become a replacement of tap water.
Tap water is actually known to have several positive health effects that are not present in bottled water. It is a common misconception to believe that bottled water is safer to drink than tap water because it is commercialized and packaged in an appealing way. However, the plastic packaging of water bottles is known to be potentially hazardous to health if the bottles are used more than once.
The use of plastic water bottles began to increase rapidly in the 1990s and has since become a billion dollar industry. Plastic water bottles have been favoured for the upper part of twenty years because of their perceived redeemable qualities. Many people use plastic water bottles simply because of their growing accessibility, as they are found in most stores and vending machines for just a couple of dollars. Since the availability of these products has increased, it seems that fewer people are opting for more sustainable, reusable choices such as metal or glass bottles.
Other universities, such as Queen’s University and the University of Winnipeg, have already banned the sale of plastic water bottles on campus, but the University of Guelph has yet to do so. Throughout campus, single-use plastic water bottles are sold are various accessible locations, such as the University Center and other cafeterias. Though other options remain available to students, plastic water bottles are still made more accessible to students. The University of Guelph is known to be sustainability-oriented, with a variety of initiatives dedicated to upholding its reputation, which begs the question, should this be the next project the Guelph Gryphons take under their wing?