Solution Stupidity

You've got to be kidding me.

With obesity and diabetes rates at their current level, the environmental movement (of which I am part) wants to eliminate water from vending machines?

WATER??

What about all the plastic bottles of pop, and "juice" that's made up of chemical flavouring, artificial colour and added sugar?? Why not eliminate those instead?

Unbelievable.

Meanwhile, as a result of the very climate change this proposed bottle ban is trying to prevent, our other water alternative - from the tap - is supposedly at risk: due to extreme weather (lots of rain), apparently the load capacity of our water processing facilities may no longer be adequate.

Simply put, that would mean the quality of our tap water will be lessened, and may eventually be unsafe if nothing is done. Without some kind of bottled water alternative, we'd become one of those societies without safe drinking water.

We've lived through boil water advisories before, and I hate to think of them becoming the norm. What's the best solution? Do the green thing and ditch the plastic water bottles, or do the healthy thing and drink water that is consistently free of fecal particles (not to mention readily available in vending machines as an alternative to pop and other sugary drinks)?

While I support some type of plastic bottle ban in theory, should WATER be the target? (C'mon, guys!!)

Is a bottle ban alone enough to change the increasing extreme weather patterns? Can we undo what's been done? Would taking away bottled water be enough to prevent climate change from worsening? How long will the water treatment facility upgrades take (and where will the money come from)?

(How about getting more people out of their cars instead? No wait - they can`t walk or cycle because when they get thirsty there won`t be any water available to drink).

I apologize if I seem to be cranky, but of all the products in plastic that could be banned, why choose the very liquid that's necessary for the sustenance of life?

Meanwhile, as I'm stuck in the stifling heat, staring at the vending machine, my only choices will be Pepsi, or some kind of "Ade" beverage that's loaded with God only knows what, in addition to too much sugar.

Of course I bring water from home (in a stainless steel coffee travel mug - I try not to buy it from the vending machines because of the cost). We have Canadian Springs deliver their 18.5L bottles that they sanitize and reuse once they're empty.

On hot days, however, it's easy to run out. At that point, that chilled vending machine bottle of Dasani or Evian is my only reprieve. My two young children, ages four and five, stand at the vending machine with me. They point at the pop, and the colourful "juice" bottles, and I say "No, but you can have some water."

They know that I won't give in (and they like water), so they don't argue. I then take the bottle I've purchased and fill their travel cups (also previously filled with water and brought from home), and they drink it.

The thought that in the future, that water may not be available to my children, makes me angrier than I can express.

Isn't the whole point of climate change to save the health of our planet and its occupants? Is taking water really the way to do that?