Battle over bottled water
Bottled water is increasingly the top choice of young people who have grown up unscrewing a cap instead of opening a tap for drinking water.
That’s a misguided, costly and wasteful attitude, says Port Coquitlam Mayor Scott Young, who chairs the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s water committee.
“Many of us complain about the price of gasoline,” he said. “But on a litre-to-litre basis you’re paying more for bottled water. And it’s completely unnecessary.”
The GVRD is planning a campaign to promote tap water and swim upstream against what has been a triumph of marketing for water bottlers.
Canadian sales of bottled water climbed 17 per cent last year.
Critics say the bottled water industry is profiting by subtly fostering the belief tap water is unsafe or undesirable.
Young said many young people he’s talked to see bottled water as the main source of drinking water.
“We find that somewhat troubling,” he said. “We have the very best drinking water in the world.”
