The Stirling Students’ Union has said it will push for a bottle water “tax”, to encourage students to be more considerate of the environment.
The Bottle Tax Campaign will see an additional 5p added to the cost of a bottle of water, following the Scottish Government’s decision to impose a 5p tax on plastic carrier bags, which has seen sales decline by 80% in some areas.
The Union has said the aim is “to raise awareness on the impacts of still bottled water.
“The goal of the Bottle Tax Campaign is to encourage students to use reusable bottles, both for the sake of their own health and finances as well as for the benefit of the planet.”
The initiative follows others conducted by UK universities, like the University of Exeter, and the London School of Economics.
LSE has imposed a 10p surcharge on plastic bottles, and the additional £33,000 raised goes towards university environmental projects.
The Green and Blue Space, the university’s environmental hub, said: “The campaign is at its very early stages where many things can still change; we can just say that we are supporting the campaign and we will support the Environment and Ethics officer
next year.”
The Union reported it had spoken with the student body, with one student saying: “I would love to see the bottle tax introduced on campus and the wider community.
“We have it in the Netherlands too and it works super well in terms of reducing litter. Seeing more people using re-usable bottles would be great.”
Reacting to the news, the Stirling University Greens said: “As a party, we are strongly in favour of any measure that encourages consumers to think more responsibly about their use of plastic bottles.
“We welcome this move by the union, and hope this is accompanied by better availability of recycling facilities on campus and improved provisions of water fountains throughout the university.”
As part of the campaign, the movie “Tapped” will be screen on 14 April in Venue. Details can be found here.
“It is worth ascending unexiting heights if for nothing else than to see the big ones from nearer their own level.” - Nan Shepherd
Sounds ridiculous! Tax, tax, and more tax is the solution to everything for some people! People should be encouraged to drink water, this new tax will push people towards cheaper canned sugary drinks! This is just another tax on those on the lowest incomes, and will only punish the poor. We should be encouraging water prices to be reduced to be more accessible to all.
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me! I know students aren’t exactly rolling in cash but I see no reason why anyone would miss such a tiny amount. Plus I don’t understand why people keep buying and throwing away bottles; just refill them! So wasteful!