Derek goes “Inside the Bottle” and exposes the billion dollar fib we’re been made to swallow. To learn more visit: www.bottledwaterfreeday.ca

This story, from Inside the Bottle, highlights action taken by students on campuses in Ontario, Canada.

February 22, 2010, OTTAWA –Campus organizers from across Ontario are racing to see whose campus can go bottled water free first. The Ontario Bottled Water Free Campus Challenge is a challenge initiated by more than 20 Ontario campuses that are actively working to restrict bottled water while promoting accessible public water infrastructure on campus.

Over the last 12 months three Canadian campuses—The University of Winnipeg (Manitoba), Memorial University (Newfoundland & Labrador) and Brandon University (Manitoba)—all signed water declarations to end the sale and distribution of bottled water and promote public water on campus. To date no Ontario campus has banned bottled water.

For the rest of the story, go to the Inside the Bottle website.

More than 70 municipalities, 6 school boards, and several campuses no long provide or sell bottled water in Canada. The Canadian Federation of Students, the Polaris Institute, and the Sierra Youth Coalition are sponsoring a Bottled Water Free Day on March 11, 2010. You don’t have to be Canadian to pledge to give up bottled water.

They say:

“The bottled water industry is less regulated than municipal water systems, consumes more energy and releases more harmful toxins into the environment than tap water.”

Their website provides many facts that you might want to check out, like this one:

“For soft drink giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, revenues from bottled water per unit outstrip soft drinks.”

From the David Suzuki Foundation in Canada:

How water is used in Canada:

64% to power production operations: Power plants use water as a cooling agent to dissipate heat. In many cases, the water is returned to its source at higher temperatures, where it can have harmful impacts on the environment.

14% to the manufacturing sector: Water is so important to most industrial operations that the proximity to a water source is a determining factor in their location decisions. Unfortunately, in most cases, water withdrawn is returned in a polluted or otherwise altered state.

12% to municipalities: Water in municipal systems is generally treated so as to be of drinking water quality but obviously it is used for much more in our homes, by business and for fighting fires. While some water is lost due to evaporation or leaks, most water brought into the city flows out in the form of wastewater and sewage. The extent of sewage treatment varies significantly across Canada.

9% to agriculture: Water is primarily used for irrigation and the rearing of livestock. Due to high levels of evaporation, water used in agriculture isn’t returned to surface or groundwater sources. But farming and livestock operations are a significant source of water pollution.

1% to mining: Water is used in a variety of ways in mining activities. In most operations polluted water is returned to its source.