Water fountains are a scarce resource on campus…

This bottled water debate is starting to be clearly manifested on campus. I was around our school's library yesterday and noticed a few students with large posters advocating tap water and condemning the use of bottled water. They were asking students about bottled water and trying to gather common perceptions and attitudes towards tap water on campus. Firstly, tap water or simply water fountains are scarce on campus. According to an article published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, university campuses across the country are witnessing dwindling access to drinking water. See article here: http://www.policyalternatives.ca/News/2008/09/PressRelease1949/

Some students, including ones in my residence are scared at even the thought of drinking tap water. Tap water being a scarce resource on top of being stigmatized spells out to an egregious problem, that of the over-consumption of bottled water. I am not going to be overly critical of bottled water but there should be options on campus for those students who prefer tap water. Water fountains need to be invested in and placed in all buildings on campus. Cost savings among other things should be the main impetus. Investing in water fountains would not only save the university money but would also alleviate the frustrations that students have towards its disinclination to implement them. Additionally, students are paying something like $2-5 for a bottle of water from the cafeteria when they can be paying zero dollars on perfectly purified municipal water. Alternatives must be available.

Key message: Invest resources and capital into water fountains so students, faculty and staff have water stations to refill at. Water fountains also complement a university’s green image, and if Trent does not want to compromise its green image, then the merits of tap water and fountains should be considered.