Banning Bottled Water

Battling the Bottle

Discouraging the use of bottled water seems like a pretty straightforward issue to me. I'm surprised anyone would take the time to contest it, unless of course those people are the International Bottled Water Association (yes, this exists). Student activists are encouraging their Universities to stop selling bottled water on campus,  instead selling reusable bottles and installing more water fountains and refill zones. The issues is one of environmentalism and economy. Water bottles make up a large portion of waste, and paying for water always seemed kind of ridiculous to me (not that I haven't done it).

The IBWA is not too fond of the water bottle bans, however, and has countered by arguing that bottled water is safer than tap water, the bottles are easy to recycle, and that activists would be better off spending their time on larger social justice issues. Unfortunately for IBWA, bottled water is not inherently safer than tap water, and many water bottles go un-recycled daily. IBWA president Joe Doss says it's just an issue of freedom of choice. "It's not a tap water versus bottled water issue," the industry just wants students to have the option. But Clare Pillsbury, one of the student activists, sums up the issue by saying "these companies are creating a product that we don't need."