When the white tents were erected at Nathan Philips Square in Toronto for the biannual Toronto Fashion Week, an insider to the runway room is guaranteed to see hundreds of guests on a daily basis

gift bags that get carelessly left behind and later thrown away, and paper signs on every seat that get torn down and replaced with the same names between each show.

It was a shock this year when LG took over sponsoring the usually un-environmentally conscious event, that plastic water bottles would be so heavily reprimanded on site.
This environmental effort arose out of the water bottle ban that Toronto City Hall and Civic Centres imposed earlier this year.
As a heavy water drinker volunteering at the 2009 Fall shows, I left my apartment, walked over to Nathan Philips Square with plastic water bottle in hand and entered the tents. Backstage where the volunteers conglomerate there were tables set up with healthy snacks of fruits and veggies, but no drinks in sight.

All I thought was: thank goodness I brought my own water! As soon as I opened the cap to take a sip I was told I had to either throw out my completely full bottle, or leave City Hall property. I argued that I was not throwing out a full bottle of water, which would contribute even more to the problem that Fashion Week already has of being known as wasteful.

As an alternative I was offered a glass bottle of Evian water. I accepted the bottle, but refused to open it since I already had a drink in hand, and resourcefully brought home the Evian water.
I know everyone reading this would say that plastic bottles are a faux-pas in general and that I should have a reusable water bottle, (and I agree) but if anyone has been backstage at an event, they would know that you leave nothing of value behind unless you wish to donate it to the innocent face but shifty-eyed girl with the hidden pockets lagging behind everyone.
In the debate of glass verses plastic, I respect (but absentmindedly forgot) City Hall’s decision to remove plastic water bottles from its vending machines. But I morally cannot chuck a bottle that is full, in favour for opening another, wasting two bottles of water, merely to support a ban which was created in order to be green.

If Toronto City Hall was truly green, as they claim to be, they would look into the unnecessary waste that goes into events being thrown on its premise.

Comments? Opinions?

Image courtesy of getwhet.com

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