We, the students of Seneca, demand that Seneca College show leadership on stopping plastic pollution by ending the sale of plastic water bottles at our campuses.

Plastic bottles end up in our oceans. 3.8 billion bottles per year do not make it to landfills or recycling plants. They make their way to oceans where they cause damage to marine life.

Recycling our bottles doesn’t fix the problem. Recycling plastic bottles is complicated and expensive. There is a limited amount of demand for recycled plastics and anything beyond this ends up in a landfill.

Plastic water bottles are bad for our health. Chemicals in plastic water bottles leach into the water we drink. These chemicals can pose serious health risks to humans.

There are simple alternatives to using plastic bottles. Water can be sold in boxes or cartons and additional bottle filling stations can be installed around campuses.

This is just the beginning of a long list of reasons to stop consuming water in plastic bottles. That’s why other campuses and institutions worldwide have banned the sale of plastic water bottles. We, the students of Seneca College, demand that our college do the same and stop selling plastic water bottles.