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Old Posted Apr 14, 2010, 4:22 PM
markbarbera markbarbera is offline
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Hamilton
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In today's Spec:

Quote:
No bottled-water ban for Hamilton
City encourages people to use tap water instead

Emma Reilly
The Hamilton Spectator
(Apr 14, 2010)

The city has backed away from a ban on bottled water and will instead encourage Hamiltonians to rely on their taps instead.

Yesterday, council approved a staff recommendation to launch an awareness campaign encouraging residents to drink more municipal water. Staff didn't recommend an all-out ban on bottled water, arguing it would lead residents to choose sugary drinks instead.

Jim Harnum, Hamilton's senior director of environment and sustainable infrastructure, told council yesterday that banning bottled water was "complicated" and wasn't the best solution for Hamilton.

"Whenever you force people to do something, there tends to be a backlash," he said. "We'd rather people chose not to drink bottled water rather than forcing them not to."

The question about whether to ban bottled water stems from 2008, when Mayor Fred Eisenberger called for a staff report on the issue. Eisenberger was absent from yesterday's meeting for personal reasons.

John Challinor, director of corporate affairs for Nestle Waters Canada, attended yesterday's meeting to voice his company's support for council's plan.

"Bans send the wrong message to consumers about the health and wellness attributes of water, bottled and otherwise," he said.

"The fact of the matter is that bottled water is proving to be particularly helpful at a time when the incidents of obesity and diabetes are on a significant increase amongst young Canadians."

Challinor also told council 91 Canadian school boards, municipalities and universities have decided not to ban bottled water over the past two years, while only 17 municipalities, three school boards and two universities have adopted a ban.
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