Ottawa councillors hail London's bottled-water ban

CALGARY (CBC) - A recent ban on bottled-water sales at municipal premises in London, Ont., is a good idea and one that Ottawa should reconsider, two city councillors say.

"I'm happy as a clam that they've gone ahead and made such a sensible decision," Capital ward Coun. Clive Doucet said. "But I'm sad that we can't be ahead of the pack."

On Monday night, London's city council passed the ban on the sale of bottled water in city buildings that also have drinking fountains.

Ottawa councillors debated and rejected a similar measure last year, Bay ward Coun. Alex Cullen said, but he said he hopes Ottawa will revisit the issue "given London's example."

The quality of Ottawa's tap water is equal or superior to some bottled water, Cullen said, and even though the bottles are supposed to be recycled, many of them end up in the landfill.

"Anything we can do to reduce the amount of these plastic bottles by having such a policy on city property I think is a good idea," he said.

Doucet said Ottawa's failure to take the lead on bottled water is part of a pattern on health and environmental issues that also includes its failure to ban cosmetic pesticides, a long delay in starting its composting program and the cancellation of its light-rail project.

The Ottawa public school board, as well as school boards in Toronto, Waterloo and Vancouver, have looked into bottled-water bans in the past year.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is to vote on the issue in the fall.

Source:Yahoo Canada Top Stories