From: Don McLeod Subject: Ban on the sale of bottled water - Council Agenda February 28,201 1 To: "City Clerk - Cathy Saunders" Received: Thursday, February 24,201 1, 12:07 PM Dear Ms. Saunders, Please find attached our letter in support of maintaining the ban on the sale of bottled water in City of London facilities and City Parks such as Victoria Park. I have attached water bottle ban supporting documents from Ontario and Canadian Municipalities. Yours sincerely, Don McLeod London Chapter Council of Canadians Agenda Item 1) pa e # LE COUNCI L CONSEIL OF CANADIANS DES CANADIENS LONDONCHAPTER Thursday February 24,201 1 Dear Mayor Joe Fontana and London City Councilors: We have an opportunity for London to show continued leadership on an extremely important environmental issue: Please “Say No to Bottled Water”. In 2008 City Council voted overwhelmingly to ban the sale of bottled water in City facilities and parks. Through long and detailed discussions London Citizens, Councilors and City staff worked hard to accomplish the leadership decision to ban the sale of bottled water in City Facilities and City Parks such as Victoria Park. As a concerned citizen of London and the London Chapter Representative for the Council of Canadians we urge you to uphold the process that resulted in the City of London showing leadership by banning the sale of bottled water. The London Chapter of the Council of Canadians has 1200 registered members in London, Ontario and another 500 London Citizens on our affiliate mailing list. The following are key supporting reasons to maintain and enforce no bottled water to be sold in City facilities and parks: The ban on the sale of bottled water is in place and should be enforced. Hundreds of hours by London Citizens, City Councilors and City Staff resulted in the ban on the sale of bottled water in 2008. Nestle drains 3.6 million litres per day from the Guelph aquifer resulting in a reversal of ground water into Mill Creek. Our environment is negatively affected by the use of fossil fuel consumed in the manufacture of plastic water bottles and subsequently for the transportation of water bottles to distant markets. Tap water is readily available to every London Citizen. Reusable water bottles help provide an environmental solution for porting water for people’s use. Our land fills have a tremendous burden on them -banning the sale of plastic water bottles helps to reduce waste sent to our landfills which reduces the cost of our City of London waste management $$$! Municipal tap water is safe as it is tested continuously. London Chapter Email: [email protected] London Chapter Web Site: www.londoncouncilofcanadians.ca Council of Canadians Web Site: www.canadians.org LE COUNCI L CONSEIL OF CANADIANS DES CANADIENS 1 LONDON CHAPTER Water is a human right - by not commercializing the sale of water we are maintaining peoples right to water regardless of their ability to pay. Ontario Municipal Water Association supports the ban. Federation of Canadian Municipalities supports the ban e Association of Ontario Municipalities supports the ban on the sale of bottled water. Let's work together with our fellow Ontario and Canadian Municipalities! Our organization will work closely with the City of London to promote water issues that are environmentally responsible. Thank you for your support of the current ban on the sale of bottled water. Yours sincerely, Don McLeod London Chapter Council of Canadians 520 Wellington Street London, Ontario N6A 3R2 (519) 667-4016 Attachments: a. Water Seminar Poster - May 2008 b. Ontario Municipal Water Association c. Federation of Canadian Municipalities d. Association of Ontario Municipalities e. Five Reasons to Ban Bottled Water London Chapter Email: [email protected] London Chapter Web Site: www.londoncouncilofcanadians.ca Council of Canadians Web Site: www.canadians.org Agenda item (I Pa e # pZl.;.lr;51 Aug 20th, 2008 9:13 AM Ontario's water providers salute City of London's ban on sale of bottled water Sudbury, Ontario, August 20, 2008 -Today, Nick Benkovich, President of the Ontario Municipal Water Association, congratulated London City Council for its ban on the sale of bottled water. "The City of London's actions remind us once again- only municipal tap water delivers." said Nick Benkovich, "At about one thousand times the cost of municipal water, bottled water is simply not good value for money". Mr. Benkovich was responding to a London City Council resolution passed on Monday that effectively banned the sale of bottled water within municipal buildings and facilities where municipal water is readily available. In passing their resolution, London City Council cited the importance of promoting city tap water as safe and a bargain compared to bottled water. London joins a host of other Ontario municipalities that have either limited the use, or are considering limiting the use of bottled water on municipal premises or in schools, including Cambridge, Kitchener, Ottawa, Sault Ste Marie, St. Catharines, Sudbury. Toronto. the Town of the Blue Mountains, and Waterloo. Concern over the sale and use of bottled water is growing internationally given its cost, the poor recycling rate for single use plastic bottles, and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with manufacturing the bottles and transporting them long distances. "The Ontario Municipal Water Association is proud of the safety of the product that our municipalities produce and deliver every day to Ontarians," said Nick Benkovich, "Municipal drinking water has to meet a much higher safety standard than bottled water, and is delivered at a fraction of the cost." OMWA is the voice of Ontario's public water supply authorities. For more information on OMWA, please visit our website at www.omwa.org. -30- Media Contact: Doug Parker Executive Director, OMWA Cell: (613) 847-0590 Nick Benkovich President, OMWA Cell: (705) 690-5227 RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE FCM NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS - MARCH 2009 http://www.fcm.ca/englishNiew.asp?mp=l164&x=1087 ENV09.1.02 BOTTLED WATER BE IT RESOLVED that the Federation of Canadian Municipalities urge all municipalities to phase out the sale and purchase of bottled water at their own facilities where appropriate and where potable water is available; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that municipalities be urged to develop awareness campaigns about the positive benefits and quality of municipal water supplies. City of London and City of Toronto, Ontario Category "A" 200 University Ave, Suite 801 Toronto, ON M5H 3C6 Tel (416) 971-9856 I Fax (416) 971-6191 E-mail amoaamo on ca *raubnd dChi8ftn MEMBER COMMUNICATION FYI No: 09-002 L To the attention of the Clerk and Council FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Craig Reid, AM0 Senior Policy Advisor February 3,2009 (416) 971-9856 ex? 334 Municipal Action on Bottled Water Issue: Municipalities across Canada and in Ontario have recently taken action to encourage use of municipal tap water at municipal events and facilities. Municipal councils across Canada, including 13 Ontario municipalities have taken action in recent months to limit the use of bottled water in municipal facilities, where appropriate, and to support the use of municipal tap water by residents and visitors. AM0 understands that a number of other Ontario municipalities are also considering such initiatives. Ontario councils taking action in this area include the cities of Sault Ste. Marie, London, Windsor, the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and the Town of Blue Mountains, amongst others. Across Canada, other municipalities such as St. John’s, Newfoundland, Charlottetown, PEI, Altona, Manitoba, Toronto and the Region of Metro Vancouver have also taken action. In some cases these actions have been supported through public education to increase awareness of the safety of municipal tap water, actions to increase the supply of municipal tap water at events through mobile water trucks and increase of supply of municipal tap water where necessary. These measures complement long-standing positions taken by AM0 and other municipal associations by increasing awareness of the affordability, health and safety of municipal tap water and the need for continuing public investments in infrastructure to provide affordable clean water to municipal residents. They also encourage stewardship of water as a valuable resource and help to reduce the amount of plastics in municipal waste streams. Action: Councils interested in investigating this issue are encouraged to contact those municipalities that have taken action. This information is available in the Policy Issues section of the AM0 website at m.amo.on.ca. Association of AM* 1-1 Municipalities of Ontario Agendapqlr;51 Item Y Pa e # In Canada, we are not immune to the growing threats of water our ground reserves [...I killed our aquifers, and I...] encroached scarcity. Twenty per cent of municipalitieshave faced shortages upon the people's rights to natural resources and the right to plan in recent years. Canada is a net exporter of bottled water, selling with those resources," its ancient glacier waters all over the world mostly for the profit of the large foreign-owned, multi-nationalwater companies. In Blue 2. Bottled water contributes to climate change. Covenant The Global Wafer Crisis and the Corning Battle for In an era when the world is dealing with the impacts of climate the Right to Water, Council of Canadians Chairperson Maude change, the bottled water industry requires massive amounts of Barlow writes, "Most provinces charge these companies next to fossil fuels to manufacture and transport their products. Accord- nothing to extract this water from springs and aquifers, and whole ing to the Bow River Keeper, a citizens' group that protects the watersheds are now under threat from this practice." But people Bow River watershed in Alberta, one quarter of the 89 billion litres are fighting back. Questions are being asked in communities of bottled water consumed every year are bought outside across Canada about the extensive and damaging of the country where they are produced.