Barlow speaking to Niagara College faculty and staff, May 3, 2012.
Niagara College has 8,000 full-students, including more than 500 international students from more than 60 countries, studying at its four campuses in southern Ontario: the Welland Campus in Welland, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Maid of the Mist Campus in Niagara Falls, and the Ontario Street Site in St. Catharines.
This past May, Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow addressed faculty and staff at the College’s ‘Day of Reflection’ held at its Niagara-on-the-Lake campus. Inside NC reported at that time, “The event’s keynote speaker was Maude Barlow, who spoke about the global water crisis. Blasting the ‘myth of abundance’, she noted that there is a finite amount of water in the world and a dire need to protect our precious water supplies. …She also noted that ground water is being pumped faster than nature intended… …’We have to stop thinking about water as a personal resource for our pleasure, convenience and profit, and start seeing water as the heart of a living ecosystem that gives live,’ she said. ‘If we don’t take care of it, it’s not going to be here to take care of us.’ …She underlined the need for greater measures to protect the Great Lakes and encouraged the NC community to visit the Council of Canadian’s Website at canadians.org.”
McMurran shares Council of Canadians materials at the event.
This morning, South Niagara chapter activist Fiona McMurran shares the news, as noted in a Niagara College news release, that, “Niagara College is tapping into a new sustainability initiative by implementing a new ban on the sale of plastic water bottles on campus. …’Banning bottled water has the obvious benefit of reducing waste from plastic bottles and supports the notion that everyone has the right – not the privilege – to clean drinking water, and it should not be sold as a commodity,’ (said) Taryn Wilkinson, the College’s environmental project coordinator. …The ban comes into effect in September to be followed by a bottled water reduction campaign during the 2012 academic year. The College’s sustainability ambassadors will help educate staff and students with blind taste tests, movie showings and information sessions about bottled water and reasons for the ban.”
