As a member of Festivals and Events Ontario, I had the pleasure of writing an article about events in Ontario that are going bottled water-free for the most recent FEO Newsletter. Enclosed below is a copy of the article that was published today!
GOING 'GREEN' NOW MEANS GOING 'BLUE' FOR MANY FESTIVALS & EVENTS IN ONTARIO
The practice is called Bottled Water Free (BWF), and it's taking the concepts of environmentalism, sustainability and 'being green' to a whole new level. In the event industry BWF is about eliminating the wasteful presence of commercially packaged single-use water bottles from event sites and offering practical and environmentally-friendly onsite hydration solutions that use existing municipal water sources.
The responsibility of keeping event attendees hydrated is an ongoing challenge for event coordinators, especially those planning large public events, festivals, concerts and athletic events. Coordinating water stations at runs, walks, and bike-a-thons can be a significant logistical undertaking especially when it means pouring water from bottles into cups. Meanwhile with the passing of the extended festival liquor licensing in the province of Ontario, at many licensed festivals beer is more readily accessible than water, presenting an array of health and safety concerns for coordinators. The traditional source of hydration, bottled water, can be expensive to supply without a sponsor, and regardless of its origin, single-use bottled water inside an event site has a negative impact on an event's waste management plan.
For these reasons and others, many events across Ontario are choosing to encourage patrons to 'bring-your-own-bottle', and providing free onsite access to sources of municipal drinking water such as drinking fountains, or hydration stations and refill stations that connect to hose bibs or fire hydrants inside the event site. In an ever increasing number of municipalities across Ontario, the BWF concept runs deeper than the environmentally-conscious planning choices of individual event coordinators. Ontario municipalities such as London, Peel Region, Goderich and Blue Mountain, among others, currently have bottled water bans, by-laws, or minimization plans in place aimed at limiting the environmental impact and decommercializing access to water in these communities. As of December 31, 2011 Toronto is expected to complete transitioning in its municipal bottled water ban prohibiting the sale and distribution of bottled water at all remaining City facilities including parks and event spaces. Coordinators with events on City of Toronto property in 2012 will be some of the next in the industry to utilize alternative hydration options at their event sites.
The dedication to going bottled-water-free is also prevalent across college and university campuses such as Fleming College Frost Campus, Queen's University, and Ryerson University and school boards including, Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board and Waterloo Region District School Board; significantly decreasing the number of single-use bottles present at the multitude of events that occur in these environments. Additionally, campaigns such as Bottled Water Free Day endorsed by a variety of provincial employees' unions and corporations, demonstrate the desire for bottled-water-free corporate events such as conferences, tradeshows and meetings.
Providing patrons with access to free water refill stations positively influences more than just the event's environmental impact. One water refill station connected to a continuous-flow municipal water source such as a hose bib or a fire hydrant can easily provide enough clean, filtered, chilled water to refill over five thousand 500mL reusable bottles in an 8-hour period. Making this quantity (or more with multiple stations) of water available for free to event-goers can significantly decrease the number and severity of dehydration cases presenting at an event's first aid and EMS stations. Additionally, replacing the presence of single-use bottles with refill stations at sporting events and festivals can result in considerable waste management cost savings in the areas of litter picking, waste disposal and recycling charges. Adding value to an event's sponsorable assets, water refill stations can be sponsored by existing event water sponsors or new companies with environmental mandates in exchange for station branding rights and onsite bottle-filling activations.
Bottled Water Free events are emerging as an industry best practice in response to society's expectation that event coordinators continuously evolve and improve their efforts to decrease event waste and provide sustainable alternatives. Water refills stations provide a practical solution to accessing existing hydration infrastructure at event sites and for bringing the water to the people; making blue the new green.
