Canberra Uni bans plastic water bottles

THE University of Canberra has become the first Australian campus to ban the sale of bottled water, setting what environmentalists hope will prove a template for the rest of the country.

If successful in encouraging students to refill bottles, the ban is estimated to reduce water bottle sales by 140,000 a year.

Bottled water will be replaced in campus cafes and shops by water vending machines that refill a 600 millilitre container with chilled water for $1 or sparkling water for $1.50 - cheaper than a sealed bottle.

Advertisement: Story continues below Refillable plastic and aluminium bottles will be sold on campus. Backed by funding from the ACT government, the university has also installed six water bubbler and bottle refill stations on the campus.

Jon Dee, from the activist group Do Something!, helped organise the ban after a student campaign. He said it would save people money and help the environment.

''This sets a model that other universities can follow - we're talking to several universities that have expressed interest,'' he said.

A survey two years ago by the Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association estimated that more than half the plastic bottles sold in Australia ended up in landfill.

Mr Dee said government statistics suggested more than 105 million litres of oil were used to produce the bottled water sold in Australia each year. This translated to 126,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

Bundanoon, a southern NSW town with a population of 2000, banned water bottle sales in 2009.

The University of Canberra vice-chancellor, Stephen Parker, said the ban was part of a push to make the campus sustainable. ''We have plentiful supplies of fresh, healthy, free drinking water on campus. There is no need for our students or staff to buy bottled water.''

SMH