In Context: 5 Web Perspectives On A Story In The News

Banning bottled water on campus

(The Daily News / Canada.com) More than 1,000 students have signed a petition to stop selling bottled water on campus at Vancouver Island University (VIU). The campaign was launched in October by the VIU student union for environmental reasons since the bottles are made from plastic, a non-renewable resource. Environmental concerns are overblown, according to those in the industry who claim that it has one of the "lowest energy footprints" of any non-alcoholic drinks. Organizations opposed to bottled water cite other concerns that stretch beyond the envioronmental arguements raised by VIU's student union.

1.

Tackling industry spin on bottled water

The Council of Canadians Acting for Social Justice
For the past 25 years the Council of Canadians has been working to protect Canadian independence "by promoting progressive policies on fair trade, clean water, energy security, public health care and other issues of social and economic concern." The council operates with the help of more than 70 volunteers in chapters across Canada, operating on donations from members and not from corporations, or from government agencies. It develops campaigns to thrust important issues into the spotlight, one of these being a campaign about bottled water, known as "Unbottle it!" As part of the campaign, it has taken a blow-by-blow approach to responding to arguments in the bottle-water industry in order to promote its campaign on ditching bottled water in favour of tap water.

2.

Health Canada's Q&A period

Health Canada
In a similar question and answer format as the Council of Canadians, Health Canada has compiled a list of 28 frequently asked questions relating to bottled water. These concerns include how bottled water is regulated, whether it is safe and how it should be properly stored. Health Canada, a federal division of the government of Canada, notes that bottled water is regulated as a food, and must comply with the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations. In addition to the frequently asked questions the site also links to safety in relation to the safety of drinking water, which is a shared responsibility between the provincial, territorial, federal and municipal governments.

3.

Humanitarian appeals to boycott bottled H20

The Water Project, Inc.
The Water Project, Inc. is a Christian, non-profit organization with a main objective to bring relief to communities around the world who suffer from the lack of access to clean water. The project launched in 2006 with a current focus on building a community of volunteers and raising money to construct water wells and rain water collection and filtration systems in Kenya, Sudan, Sierra Leone and India. It's dedicated section on bottled water, therefore focuses on changing bottled water buying habits in order to supply clean water to poorer nations suffering from a lack of clean water. It considers bottled water a luxury, not a necessity, and promotes the use of water filtration at home.

4.

Pitting bottled against filtered water

Bottled Water Blues
BottledWaterBlues.com is a non-commercial website owned by Doss Holdings Inc. It is managed by Charles Strand, CEO of Sun Water and author of "All about water." The site was launched in 2002 and intends to persuade families in the types of water it drinks. It offers a comparative structure that pits bottled water against filtered water, and alleges that many leading water brands selling bottled water use municipally treated water as its source. In addition to contrasting bottled water and filtered water, it makes recommendations on how to properly store water, employ better drinking habits, and lists bottled water facts.

5.

Association fighting for refreshment companies

Refreshments Canada
Refreshments Canada is a national industry association that represents over 40 brands of brands and companies that manufacture and distribute the majority of non-alcoholic liquid refreshment beverages consumed in Canada, including bottled water. It notes that the entire refreshment beverage industry currently generates over $5 billion annually in retail sales, and directly employs some 12,000 Canadians. The president of Refreshments Canada, Justin Sherwood, is often quoted in rebutting not only arguments lobbying for banning bottled water, as well as arguments against calorie consumption in soft drinks. Under its section dedicated to bottled and enhanced water it addresses the different types of bottled water, basing its descriptions mainly on Health Canada's definitions.