Trent University Officially Bans the Sale of Bottled Water...

Trent University has hit a milestone shared by only a handful of post-secondary institutions across North America. Earlier this month, the school officially banned the sale of single unit bottled water on campus and will fully come into effect in the fall of 2011.

Over the course of the upcoming academic year, customers are being encouraged to reduce their consumption of individual bottles of water as the number of bottles available from cafeterias, vending machines and other sellers will steadily decrease, ultimately reaching none. Moreover, under the policy, no bottled water will be sold by "any member, club and group, organization or administrative or academic department at the university".

This is a major victory for Trent University and all groups fighting against the sale of bottled water. This is an especially important victory for Trent's Central Student Association and Sustainable Trent, the two student groups that have been fighting for this for several years. Several years ago, the likelihood of achieving such a ban was considered next to nil, considering the stranglehold held on the food services at Trent by Aramark. However, I first noticed a major shift in the tide at Aramark during a meeting one of its Reps had with Sustainable Trent in which he implied that a ban on bottled water might actually prove more financially beneficial to the food provider as the closest alternative to bottled water is the much more lucrative 'vitamin water', which is not covered in the ban.

Importantly, the school is providing an investment in water fountains on campus, which, up until earlier last year, were almost nowhere to be found on campus. In fact, under the food service contract with Aramark, it was able to place vending machines in front of old water fountains, thereby eliminating any competition between bottled water and water fountains.

It should be noted that the school's claim that the school will be "bottled water free by 2011" can not be fully achieved by the policy. Indeed, the sale of bottled water is not the same as providing it for free. As far as I understand it, this policy does nothing to prevent anybody giving away bottled water, which is not uncommon at conferences, sporting events, etc. However, one can hope that the ban emanates to these facets as well.

Congratulations, Trent.