Many municipalities, workplaces, and universities are contemplating becoming bottle water free and implementing bottle free zones. The Canadian Federation of Municipalities is urging all of its members to ban the sale of bottled water in municipally owned buildings. The University of Winnipeg became officially bottled water free last year. Even the University of Ottawa’s SFUO is taking action by not selling bottled water at their events or in some businesses, such as Cafe Alt.
These changes are taking place as a response to the fact that approximately 1.5 million barrels of oil, enough to run 100,000 cars for a whole year, are used to make plastic water bottles, while transporting these bottles burns even more oil[1]. Furthermore, it costs up to 10,000 times more for bottled water than tap water, a ludicrous cost, especially when living on a student budget[2].
One Michigan company has decided to offer an “environmentally product” while benefitting from all the action being taken against the sale of bottled water. So, what is the company’s revolutionary new product? Boxed Water[3]. According to their website about 85% of the Boxed Water container is made from trees that are harvested in a responsible, managed, and ethical way and the collapsed boxes transport more effectively than bottles[4]. They are also giving back to the environment, with 20% of their profits supporting water and forestation organizations[5]. The company currently only sells its product in Michigan, but is looking towards expanding up north. Have we finally found the silver bullet to solve the University of Ottawa’s bottled water blues?
In other news, another company has come up with a revolutionary new idea for getting water to parched consumers: the reusable water bottle and tap.
- natasha
[1] Treehugger
[3] http://boxedwaterisbetter.com/hello/
[4] http://boxedwaterisbetter.com/hello/learn.html
[5] http://boxedwaterisbetter.com/hello/learn.html