Green is Simple But Is It Good?

Took me about three weeks to realize that bottles of water are no longer stocked at McGill.  The student association apparently voted against bottled water in the student union (named after William Shatner who never gave any cash for such a privilege).  I was not teaching last winter, so I don't know when this decision took effect.  I guess the idea is that bottles from purchased water are bad for the environment.  Yet, I guess the bottles from coke, powerade, and other colored drinks are ok for the environment as they are still available.  Yep, McGill discriminates against beverages of non-color.  It is better to drink various forms of sugar water in plastic bottles than plain water in plastic bottles.  I understand the impetus here, and so students may decide to carry water bottles around (although we have plenty of stories about the non-trivial health consequences of various kinds of bottles).  Or they may buy more soda, pop, soda pop, or coke, depending on what part of North America you are from.

Anyhow, I did tend to re-use the bottles, but now find myself having to buy powerade (since sodas make me burp in the middle of lecture, not a good thing) or apple juice when I forget to bring a bottle to carry water.  I guess this helps us prepare for the great Zombie wars, but as an environmental measure, it seems that symbolism cuts against health as sugared beverages will be consumed in greater quantities.