preview

York University Case Study

Decent Essays

As a first-year student at York University, I was not aware that the distribution of single-use water bottle was prohibited on campus until recently. After conducting some research, I found that York University is one of many institutions that do not sell any water bottles. Furthermore, I found that the reason behind this ban is because York University made a commitment in supporting the human right to water and also because York is aiming to become a more sustainable university. With humans causing more harm to the environment than ever before, York university is trying to make a difference before it is too late. The removal of single-use water bottle on campus has raised the question of whether or not water bottles can be sold on campus …show more content…

I consider myself as someone who cares about the environment therefore, I understand the difference that York is trying to make. I agree that York should be one of leading post-secondary institutions in sustainability. The approach that the university is taking is a great way to get people in the York community interested in this growing problem. When we are talking about the environment it is important that our plans work for the long-term as well. York has successfully included in its policies that they are thinking ahead for the years to come (“The Sale and Distribution…”, 2015). I came across a book called “Blue covenant the global water crisis and the coming battle for the right to water” written by Maude Barlow. The argument that stood out the most to me was that our landfills in Toronto are not able to support bottled water (Barlow, 2009, p.89). More specifically, it states that municipalities are having trouble finding space for garbage generated by bottled water. It has a quote that paints a picture of how big of a crisis this is, “as few as 50 percent of the water bottles Torontonians consume everyday are actually being recycled, as many as 65 million empty plastic water bottles per year end up as garbage in a landfill waste site.” (Barlow, 2009, p.90) These statistics stuck with me since Toronto is a city of approximately 2.8 million people and yet we are able to use roughly 65 million single-use water bottles (Barlow, 2009, p.90).

Get Access