{"id":20207,"date":"2018-03-28T23:12:45","date_gmt":"2018-03-29T03:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=20207"},"modified":"2018-04-04T20:32:16","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T00:32:16","slug":"say-goodbye-to-plastic-water-bottles-at-vending-machines-if-council-gets-its-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/say-goodbye-to-plastic-water-bottles-at-vending-machines-if-council-gets-its-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Say goodbye to plastic water bottles at vending machines \u2013 if Council gets its way"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Efforts to transform Aurora\u2019s concession stands into hubs of \u201cReal Food\u201d and healthy eating took an environmental twist last week with Council opting to phase out plastic water bottles from the counters and vending machines.
\nCouncil this week is set to approve a plan which will require all companies looking for a chance to operate vending machines and concession stands at municipal facilities to stock a minimum of 55 per cent healthy eating options.
\nIn addition to the mandatory requirement for 55 per cent healthy food options is the elimination of plain bottled water at the point of sale, with exceptions for bottled carbonated and flavoured water, and a provision that empty refillable bottles can be made available for sale.
\nThe move came after a campaign led by parents and teens in the community under the banner of \u201cReal Food First,\u201d a name so-chosen, explained parent Kasie Savage, to illustrate they define \u201creal food\u201d as food having real nutritional value, which garnered the support of over 700 community members.
\n\u201cWe have to give thanks for a grassroots organization coming forward,\u201d said Councillor John Abel at last week\u2019s General Committee meeting. \u201cI have always said one of our best assets is our community and this demonstrates exactly that \u2013 getting involved with your community and listening to them and then bringing it forward to Council for consideration. This is truly a great example of what good work and conscientious engagement does.\u201d
\nWhile Councillor Abel made unsuccessful efforts to amend the RFP to include a reduction in the sheer number of vending machines now in place at the Stronach Aurora Recreation Complex, he supported the provision to address the plastic water bottle issue.
\n\u201cIn Norway, they have effectively eliminated the disposing of plastic water bottles,\u201d he said. \u201cI am wondering if, in our RFP (Request for Proposal) we can explore where a deposit is required on bottled water and, when you\u2019re finished, you put [the bottle] back into the machine and it gives you your deposit? They are able to recycle the bottles four to eight times. It\u2019s a great way to reduce plastic and it might be a great initiative.\u201d
\nAlthough this option didn\u2019t gain traction the first time around \u2013 and could be brought up again by the time Council moves to ratify the RFP this week \u2013 this was part of the general trend taking aim at the plastic problem.
\n\u201cI would like to see the elimination of plastic water bottles in general,\u201d said Councillor Jeff Thom. \u201cI was down at an event in Niagara Falls\u2026and they had a big sign over their concession that their whole municipality has gotten rid of plastic bottles. They had vending machines that had cans of beverages, but they got rid of the plastic. This is a step in the right direction, especially when the Town provides water that is safe, clean, delicious and readily available at filling stations.\u201d
\nAdded Councillor Tom Mrakas: \u201cThis is a good first step in providing healthy options for our residents and children in our community. I am thrilled, from an environmental perspective, of eliminating single use bottled water. I would like to see it go even further but overall this is a great first step.\u201d
\nLast week\u2019s discussion, however, wasn\u2019t just a rubber stamp. There were some concerns raised by Council members. In addition to Councillor Abel\u2019s contention that the numbers of vending machines at the SARC clutter the building and should be reduced, others wanted to ensure that the tastes of recreation centre users would still be met.
\n\u201cLet\u2019s say that everybody loves Coffee Crisps and despite the fact there is 55 per cent healthy foods, you have a line-up of people on a nightly basis asking for Coffee Crisp,\u201d said Councillor Paul Pirri. \u201cThis wouldn\u2019t impede the owner of the concession stand to refill that one item, would it?\u201d
\nHe was assured by Lisa Warth, Acting Parks Director, that the Town could not enforce that particular kind of inventory control.
\nOthers, such as Councillor Harold Kim, questioned whether Councillors could approach local companies with that already serve up from a healthy angle, letting them know that this RFP was available.
\n\u201cWe all know that human behaviour takes time to change,\u201d he said. \u201cAcceptance may take months, if not years, to change, and I don\u2019t think healthy eating habits are any different, although I suspect Aurora\u2019s adoption might be different because of our sports history and so forth.
\n\u201cWe all know that proven brands sell,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you have a Starbucks, a Tim Hortons, or Longo\u2019s, people have the recognition and know about the quality and types of foods offered. It\u2019s an instant success. There is no adoption period and it is not necessarily a money-losing operation.\u201d
\nBut staff said such an approach \u2013 from either a Council or staff member \u2013 would violate existing procurement measures.
\n\u201cIt is a bit of a dangerous slope. If you\u2019re simply keeping the conversation to, \u2018Hey, the Town has an opportunity I would like you to have a look\u2026\u2019 keep it to that, that\u2019s fine,\u201d said Town Treasurer Dan Elliott. \u201cOtherwise you venture into the grey area of lobbying and we have a blackout period. We have to be very careful about that so we don\u2019t have disqualify a bidder for lobbying or crossing the blackout period.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Move towards “Real Food” at local concession stands could also mean a phase-out of plastic water bottle sales. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5fV","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-29 21:19:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20207\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}