LAURENTIAN VALLEY – MP Cheryl Gallant, MP Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke celebrated Earth Day by taking a drink of water from the tap instead of a plastic bottle. “Saving the environment isn't just a matter of politicians passing laws. It starts at the personal level with putting disposable coffee cups in the recycling bin instead of out the window of a vehicle and drinking water from the tap instead of a plastic bottle.”

"Earth Day is a great opportunity to reflect and be proud of what we've accomplished, and to think about how we can all continue to work to protect our environment," agreed Environment Minister John Baird. "A simple act of drinking tap water is a great example of a concrete action that all Canadians can take, right in their own homes."

MP Gallant took the opportunity to encourage constituents to get involved in fighting climate change at home and to teach their children about the importance of clean water. "Canada's Conservative Government is serious about tackling pollution and protecting the water we drink, but we know we can't do it alone," said Gallant. "Taking steps at home and teaching our children habits like respecting our lakes and rivers will be the key to securing a healthier future. We must protect the economic advantage in being good stewards of the earth."

Plastic bottles use a lot of fossil fuels and pollute the environment. Canadians in 2005 bought 1.9 billion litres of water! In order to make all those bottles, manufacturers use millions of barrels of crude oil, enough oil to keep a million cars going for months. Imagine a water bottle filled a quarter of the way up with oil. That’s about how much oil was needed to produce the bottle.

So why don’t more people drink water straight from the kitchen faucet? Some people drink bottled water because they think it is better for them than water out of the tap, but that’s not true. In Canada, our municipalities make sure water from the faucet is safe. Due to the growing concern that chemicals in the bottles themselves may leach into the water, Canada is moving to ban certain chemicals that are used to make plastic bottles.

Plastic bottle recycling can help—instead of going out with the trash, plastic bottles can be turned into items like carpeting or cozy fleece clothing.

Unfortunately, for every six water bottles we use, only one makes it to the recycling bin. The rest are sent to landfills. Even worse, they end up as trash on the land and in rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Plastic bottles take many hundreds of years to disintegrate.

“Water is good for you, so keep drinking it. But think about how often you use water bottles, and see if you can make a change. And yes, you can make a difference. Remember this: Recycling one plastic bottle can save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for six hours,” concluded MP Gallant.

Canada's Conservative Government's comprehensive environmental agenda, which totals $9 billion, includes financial incentives to drive environmentally-friendly vehicles, a tax break for public transit users, support for the growth of renewable energy sources like wind and tidal power, help for Canadians to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, and action on renewable fuels.

For more information on the government's environmental initiatives, visit www.ecoaction.gc.ca.