Plastic water bottles have been banished from city meetings.

Council voted Monday to stop making single-use plastic water bottles available at those meetings in what amounts to a largely symbolic anti-litter gesture.

Step 2 of the bottle-ban plan is the elimination of bottled water sales in all city buildings, including arenas and community centres, by the end of the year.

City staff now has the task of crafting an implementation plan that irons out details like how to appropriately compensate companies currently under contract to supply the city with bottled water.

Last month, councillors in London, Ont. voted for a similar ban on the sale of plastic water bottles in its municipal facilities.

Vaughan Today
In print: September 12, 2008, page 3
Online: September 14, 2008 [link]