Nestle Responds to BUSU Ban
The BU Board of Governors have released a letter sent to Chairman Richard Lonstrup from Nestle Waters Canada in response to the recent banning of bottled water sale on campus, expressing concern about the decision, as well as Lonstrup’s reply.
Dated for January 8th (received on January 15th) and signed by Nestle Waters President Gail Cosman, the letter states that “...the possibility of a ban is troubling to our employees, customers and business partners who live and conduct commerce in your community.” Further, the letter said that “Given the current uncertain economic environment that exists in the country, we are of the view that a ban would impact the current employment outlook for our industry as well as future job creation, environmental stewardship and industry investment prospects.” The letter goes on to say that, if the concern was about ‘recycling and litter’, Nestle and its ‘industry partners’ have entered an agreement with the provincial government to collect and recycle bottles in residential neighborhoods and institutional facilities (like BU). They also note that “Waste audits conducted nationally indicate that bottled water containers account for less than one-fifth of 1 percent of the waste stream. If the bottled water industry was to disappear tomorrow, there would be no appreciable reduction in the amount of refuse going to landfill.” The letter also mentions the health benefits from drinking more water, “...whether from bottled or tap sources...”. Included with the letter is a guide to Nestle and their bottled water line, which includes information on their policies on recycling, environmental impact and water safety guidelines, as well as the health benefits of drinking water and the safety of their PET plastic bottles.
In a reply written on January 19th, Lonstrup and Dr. Deborah Poff wrote that the University shared the concern with health, and that “...any proposal would have to include programs to promote making healthy choices, including the benefit of consuming water.” They reiterated the new programs, including refurbishing water fountains and BUSU selling reusable bottles, that BU has taken in light of the recent ban. They also said that bottled water can still be consumed on campus, and that products ‘enhanced by the manufacturer’ (flavoured water or water with nutrients) would still be sold on campus. This a distinction was clarified the week prior in a meeting with Pepsi, the university’s exclusive distributor. According to the letter, sales data from both BU and Pepsi have shown a shift towards flavoured water by consumers over the past year, prior to the ban.
The letter also noted that the decision to stop the sale of water at BU was requested by BUSU, who brought up the issues of commoditization of a basic human resource, the energy consumed to produce and transport bottled water, and the cost of bottled water over tap water “...coupled with the generally reduced financial status of students.” Finally, it stated that “Any disadvantages of not selling bottled water appear to be relatively minor . . . in either the loss of sales of beverages or the encouraged consumption of “free” desirably healthy tap water.”
According to both letters, Nestle had contacted the BOG on the same topic back in June 2009.
