Canadian municipalities set sights on bottled water

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Canada’s national municipal organization, is encouraging reduced bottled water usage at municipal facilities.

Meeting last week in Victoria, B.C., the group’s national board of directors passed a resolution encouraging municipalities to “phase out the sale and purchase of bottled water at their own facilities where appropriate and where appropriate and where portable water is available.”

The federation’s president, Sherbrooke, Que. mayor Jean Perrault, said that municipalities are “leading by example to encourage environmentally sustainable water choices.”

The federation’s resolution did not call for an outright ban on the sale of bottled water, noting that public consumption calls under provincial and national jurisdiction.

“All orders of government must work together to reduce reliance on a product that produces more waste, costs more and uses more energy than simple, dependable municipal tap water,” argued Perrault.

The resolution was put forward by the cities of Toronto and London, Ont., noting growing concern over the environmental impacts of bottled water production, the energy requirements for the production and transport of bottled water, as well as the disposal and recycling of water bottles.

In February, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario noted that 13 Ontario municipalities had placed limits on bottled water use at their facilities in recent months.