C.A.R.E. Stratford
Welcome! C.A.R.E. Stratford is a grassroots community dedicated to restoring the local environment by thinking globally and acting locally. Pioneered by the Stratford Central Secondary School Environment Club and Alumni, C.A.R.E. Stratford has planned events such as the annual Symposium on the Environment, screening of environmentally related films, recycling pick-up at local events, and more.

Contact
Kerry McManus (at Stratford Central Secondary School): 519-271-4500
Email: carestratford@cyg.net
Presented By Stratford Central SS
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Turn On The Tap

Click here to download our poster or view other resources on the subject of tap water.

You are invited to take part in C.A.R.E. Stratford's "Turn on the Tap" campaign on November 24th. Turn on the Tap Participants will:

  • Drink tap water on November 24th instead of bottled water, coffee, tea, sports drinks, soft drinks, juices and alcohol.
  • Donate the money saved to Rotary's Aquabox program or C.A.R.E. Stratford for water conservation projects. (Participants from outside Stratford will donate to local water initiatives.)
  • Register by contacting Kerry McManus at (519) 271-4500 ext. 24 or kerrmcma@fc.amdsb.ca

Rotary's Aquabox program is a great initiative that helps provide a means to purify water when a region's municipal supply becomes contaminated. For more information, visit http://rotarystratford.com/aquabox. Donations to C.A.R.E. Stratford will enable us to purchase materials to help individuals decrease their water consumption.

In addition, I urge you to make tap water your regular choice for water. The cost of bottled water to our community is often overlooked. In Stratford, the cost of water is $0.0013/L for the first 3000L and $0.00066/L for any further water used each month. At one store in Stratford, 1L bottles of water range in price from $1.89 to $3. Bottled water cannot compete with the cost of drinking water and the decision to purchase bottled water requires a sacrifice of actual needs for some in our community. "Some people think that bottled water is safer than municipal tap water, but there is no evidence to support this."1 While PET plastic is recyclable, many plastic bottles end up in the landfill or as litter. Transporting bottled water adds to air pollution and use of fossil fuels, not to mention the impact drawing water for our use has on the source's supply. Your example in drinking tap water will help rebuild confidence in our water as well as affirm the work of our city staff who diligently monitors our water supply to insure our health and safety.

Please join members of C.A.R.E. Stratford as we turn on the tap to remind ourselves that we are fortunate to enjoy safe municipal water and to help provide safe drinking water to others. Through conservation, we help provide water to future generations and through the Aquabox program, we help provide potable water to others around the world.

I look forward to hearing from you soon. If you would be interested in learning more about bottled water, please let me know. If you have a spot where you would like to post a poster for this event, please let me know. Feel free to invite others to participate. For those outside Stratford, please donate to water initiatives in your community. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,

Kerry McManus
Environment Club Staff Advisor
Stratford Central Secondary School

1. Canada. Health Canada. Questions and Answers on Bottled Water. 6 Nov. 2006 <http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/facts-faits/bottle_water-eau_embouteillee/faqs_bottle_water-eau_embouteillee_e.html>

A Samason Design, 2007