Why doesn’t Vanier College Sell Plastic Water Bottles?
Picture this: You’re on your way to PhysEd class. You make your way to the locker room, touch-up on your deodorant, reach in your bag to get your water bottle, but wait!… Oh shnitzel! You forgot it at home. You shrug it off and head to class. Thirty minutes into class, you’re sweating and your throat is dry. You reach down to grab your water bottle, SIKE, it’s not there. You excuse yourself from class to go to the water fountain. You bend down, turn the machine on and bring your mouth to the spout only to be met with lukewarm water! Ughhhhhh! Annoyed, you head to the vending machine because at this point, you are desperate for a cold drink of water. But what-do-you-know! The vending machine sells everything BUT water! WHYYYYYYY?! I describe this with such detail because I’ve been there and I know you have to. So all this to say, why doesn’t Vanier College sell water bottles?
Well, ‘’a year or so ago, the college cafeterias and vending machines stopped selling non-reusable water bottles’’ (Paquet, 2025).
But why?
‘’The explanation behind this was that as we have water fountains across campus, and bottle refilling stations, students did not need to buy plastic water bottles to remain hydrated’’ (Paquet, 2025).
Was this decision backed-up with any other justification?
Yes! ‘’This would be an effective way of reducing plastic waste across campus. I do understand where the college may have been coming from as at the time, there was a [government trend] to reduce plastic waste [in] Montreal specifically” (Paquet, 2025).
Those are all valid reasons for discontinuing the selling of non-reusable plastic water bottles at Vanier College. To help promote sustainability, visit our Instagram or Facebook @vcsainsider to see the bottles we suggest you purchase according to CTV News.
Huge thank you to VCSA President, Morgane Paquet, for collaborating with the Insider on this article.
