Louis Riel School division considers plastic bottle ban

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This article was published 09/02/2011 (5534 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Louis Riel School Division is contemplating banning the sale of plastic beverage bottles at its schools.

The proposed ban was discussed at a Jan. 25 meeting of the Louis Riel School Board. Trustees forwarded the proposal to committee for further discussion and to study the impact of such a ban.

Winnipeg School Division is considering a similar ban following a suggestion by a member of its school board in early January.

“As a part of our ongoing environmental policies, we’re going to look at it,” said LRSD board chair Gary Gervais.

Gervais explained that, two years ago, the division developed an education for sustainable development policy that included a ban on Styrofoam products within schools.

“The way the policy is written, it’s open for different considerations,” he said, suggesting a ban on plastic bottles could be incorporated.

Gervais said that trustees were promp­ted to consider a ban after Winnipeg School Division officials began looking into the issue.

Supt. Terry Borys said it isn’t only trustees who are intrigued by the idea.

“We did receive some correspondence from some folks in the community about it, asking if we would be doing the same thing,” he said, adding bottled water and juice are currently available from vending machines in division schools.

Borys said the trustees have also asked division staff to report on how students might react to such a ban.

Megan Dufret, a Grade 11 student at J.H. Bruns Collegiate who is chair of her school’s Earth Stewardship Program, said she applauds the division’s move to consider a plastic bottle ban.

“One of our main focuses has been water issues,” Dufret said, adding students at J.H. Bruns can buy bottled beverages in vending machines located in the cafeteria and outside the gymnasium.

Part of the stewardship program’s campaign includes posting facts about water consumption above the school’s drinking fountains.

A few times a year, the group holds water taste tests, inviting fellow students to guess  which cup holds tap water and which is bottled water.

“They often get it wrong. That’s often what we use to emphasize the point,” she said.

Dufret acknowledged that some students may not feel the same the same way about the proposed bottle ban as she does. Some might feel it would inconvenience them, she said, while others may believe that bottled water is better or cleaner than tap water.

Still, she believes that most of them would adapt given time.

“It would take a bit of time for people to get used to it, but I think it would have a positive effect in the long run,” Dufret said.

A spokesperson for the Winnipeg School Division said the issue of a ban on plastic beverage bottles in schools has been referred to the board’s policy/program committee for consideration. The committee has yet to issue a recommendations.

arielle.godbout@canstarnews.com