When it comes to the opinions of Ontarians on the hot button topic of bottled water, it appears it may depend on who’s asking the questions.
Two recent polls – one released by the Canadian Bottled Water Association (CBWA) and the other by the Wellington Water Watchers (WWW) – appear to paint two very different pictures of popular opinion on the water bottling industry.
This week, to coincide with World Water Day on March 22, the WWW announced the results of a poll that indicates 63% of residents support phasing out bottled water in Ontario over the next ten years.
The poll, commissioned by the WWW and conducted with 4,000 people by Mainstreet Research, also found that 63% of decided respondents agreed permits of water bottling companies should not be renewed.
According to the WWW, the reasons for that agreement include:
– 33% are “concerned about the negative environmental impact of excessive water taking”;
– 24% “disapprove of water bring treated as a commodity”;
– 20% are concerned about “excessive waste from plastic water bottles”;
– 9% say bottled water “undermines the perception that tap water is safe”; and
– 9% selected other reasons, while 4% were undecided.
“It is clear a decisive majority of the public agree it is time to phase out the bottled water industry in Ontario and ensure public ownership and control of municipal water,” WWW spokesman Mike Nagy stated in a press release announcing the results of the group’s poll.
Yet the results of another poll, released less than two months ago, indicate most Ontarians drink bottled water and do not want it eliminated as a choice.
That poll was commissioned by the CBWA and conducted by Forum Research with 1,500 people.
The results, released on Feb. 3, indicate 79% of Ontarians purchased or consumed bottled water in the past year (32% due to convenience and 28% as an alternative to other bottled beverages); and 68% oppose the government “limiting consumer options when it comes to what they eat or drink.”
Other findings of the CBWA poll include:
– 76% of respondents indicate they “primarily drink tap water at home,” but 52% said they “drink bottled water over tap water outside of the home”;
– 95% “recycle their empty water bottles where recycling is available”; and
– 72% say it is unfair for the government to “increase fees for commercial groundwater takings if only bottled water companies are singled out.”
CBWA executive director Elizabeth Griswold stated the results should be “a wake-up call” for an Ontario government “determined to make policy up on the fly, taking their cue from a small group of people intent on spreading misinformation and putting an entire industry … at risk.”
