under the government's power
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Water fountains in Ottawa
To help increase our chances in this fight, our federal, provincial and municipal governments will have to play a significant role. One thing that they could do is to put public water fountains around cities so people could refill their own metal bottles. In Ottawa, the citizens have been asking the question of "where can we find free drinking water?" and CBC has started to put up a map showing the locations. The problem is that in the most popular locations, the number of fountains is small. They are all situated on the outer edge of the city, and the government needs to do a better job at putting them in more convenient locations such as along the river and in the downtown area. If they do not do so soon, people will continue buying plastic bottles in those areas.
In BC and especially Vancouver, the government has been making a push towards having people drink more from fountains and it really shows. In this data by Statistics Canada, we see that only 11% of the BC population regularly drinks bottled water. That is 3% less than any other province in Canada.
Another thing that the government can do is to follow the examples of cities like Waterloo and London by banning plastic bottles in their buildings and even on their land. By doing this, they will reduce the ability for people to buy water on the go and people will be forced to use reusable bottles. It will also make people realize that they can survive without water for longer than they thought and they will be able to go around even where these bottles are sold and say "No, I can survive another half hour."
Another thing that the government can do is to follow the examples of cities like Waterloo and London by banning plastic bottles in their buildings and even on their land. By doing this, they will reduce the ability for people to buy water on the go and people will be forced to use reusable bottles. It will also make people realize that they can survive without water for longer than they thought and they will be able to go around even where these bottles are sold and say "No, I can survive another half hour."
The other problem is that there are not enough recycling cans around in public spaces. Yes, Canada has a great recycling program for people's homes, but what if you are out for a walk and you need to throw it out? For every garbage can we have in the city, there should be at least one, and probably two recycling bins. This will give people the opportunity to recycle their bottles instead of throwing them in the nearest garbage can. Companies such as Tim Horton's have started to put recycling bins right next to all their garbage bins, and that is what needs to be done all over the country. We need to have lists of recyclable materials attached so people know what can be recycled. This way they will not contaminate the bins or throw away any recyclables. The fact that only 12% of these bottles get recycled may not be due to human ignorance, but it may be caused by lack of recycling bins. Citizens say they buy them because "they are convenient on the go", which means they will be traveling with them and if they cannot find a recycling bin, they will just throw the bottles in the trash.