We, the undersigned, ask you to discourage the use of bottled water on the UNSW campus.

We are extremely concerned with the enormous, yet largely unnecessary costs that the sale and consumption of bottled water is having on our environment. The 600 million litres of bottled water that Australians consume annually creates more than 60 000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, Studies have shown that in Australia only 35 per cent of water bottles bought in Australia are being recycled. This means that 55 per cent is going to landfill, and 10 per cent is discarded as litter, posing an enormous waste hazard.

The growth of the bottled water industry also means that sources of water are increasingly becoming privatised in the South, denying whole communities access to one of the basic human rights- clean water.

Attending a university that prides itself on its sustainable credentials, we, as students are embarrassed to be associated with such a harmful, unnecessary and unsustainable practice, and ask that you do everything in your power to discourage its use.

This problem could easily be solved through the provision of adequate bubblers around campus, the removal of all advertisements encouraging the consumption of bottled water and the reduction of the sale of bottled water to a bare minimum.

We urge you to take immediate action.