A proposed plan to phase out single-use plastic water bottles in the new year at Thames Valley school board properties will have to overcome hurdles like long-term boil water advisories on London-area First Nations to be successful, staff say.
A proposed plan to phase out single-use plastic water bottles in the new year at Thames Valley school board properties will have to overcome hurdles such as long-term boil water advisories on London-area First Nations to be successful, staff say.
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A feasibility report, released this week, was prepared in response to a September 2023 request by trustees for a report from board staff on the feasibility of banning the sale and purchase of single-use plastic water bottles at 23 Thames Valley locations where they are sold in vending machine and in cafeterias.
“The concerns stem from the necessity of populations that we serve,” superintendent Paul Sydor said. “We would want to ensure we understand the pressures the communities are under and make sure the students are not felt stigmatized by coming to school in a situation they can’t avoid.”
The proposal was introduced by trustee Marianne Larsen more than a year ago.
“This has been done in other jurisdictions. . . in our city for example, this has been done in other school boards. It is not unreasonable,” she said at a committee meeting this week. “I could quote thousands of statistics about the number of single-use water bottles that end up in dumps and the impact of plastic on our environment.
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“For anyone who has any concerns about our environment and the impact on our land and seas of plastics, this to me is something you would support.”
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One of Ontario’s largest school boards with an enrollment of about 84,000 students, the Thames Valley board has 160 schools.
Both Oneida of the Thames and the Chippewas of the Thames First Nations have been on long-term drinking water advisories, a staff report said.
As well, the Munsee-Delaware Nation gets some of its water supplies from Chippewa of the Thames First Nations.
“Students and staff from these communities rely on bottled water,” the report said. “Access to bottled water remains a necessity for the First Nation students and staff.”
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The report recommends a strategy that includes implementing the ban on a trial basis and then, in phases, to allow “for gradual adjustment and reduces potential resistance.”
“One would hope that what would be put in place is that everyone have a reusable water bottle and water filling stations on all of our properties so everyone has access to fresh water,” Larsen said. “This would go a long way – not all the way – to address our concerns about the lack of fresh water on reserves.
“This could take place over many, many years and that is precisely why the recommendation here, as suggested by staff, is that this be a phased approach.”
Trustee Sherri Moore said it’s “a no brainer that single-use plastics are terrible.
“I definitely want all the water bottles out of everywhere, it’s just a question of what is the best way to do that,” she said. “We want to make sure every student has free access to fresh water – all day every day at school – regardless of financial position and that they not be stigmatized for grabbing a bottle at home and bringing it in.
“I’m concerned about staff having to police any kind of use of single-use water bottles.”
Larsen said a phased in approach “could potentially mean a couple schools volunteering to do it.
“At least we do something. Our students on the board are looking to us to be environmental leaders,” she said. “There’s an opportunity to do something to make a difference, a small difference albeit it.”
The recommendation goes before the board of trustees in September.
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