On Sept. 22, the Council of Canadians launched a national boycott campaign against Nestlé in Guelph.
“The water crisis is at our door here in Canada,” said Maude Barlow, chairperson of the Council of Canadians.
“Groundwater resources are finite and are currently taxed by droughts, climate change and over-extraction. We must safeguard groundwater reserves for communities and future generations.”
The group is calling on people to sign a declaration on its website to boycott bottled water and Nestlé.
The declaration warns: “Between 2011 and 2015 the aquifer that supplies the main Nestlé production well dropped about 1.5 metres, while Nestlé’s water taking increased 33 per cent over the same period.”
When contacted by the Advertiser, Nestlé’s Cédric Focking Schneider issued a press release stating “long-term sustainability of water and creating a fair and equitable process to manage the Permit to Take Water (PPTW) system are topics Nestlé Waters Canada shares with all Wellington County residents and government decision makers.”
Focking Schneider added, “We know there is more to do and we will continue to address concerns about water permitting, pricing and sustainability, in an open and transparent manner …
“We continue to work with the township to find a way to move forward in a manner that preserves and creates shared environmental, community and economic value.”
