By Katrina Forrest, Surfrider Pacific Rim’s Zero Waste Expert

In Tofino our water comes to us from wanačis ḥiłhuuʔis, in the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation Tribal Park, also known as Meares Island. People often think of the forests surrounding Tofino and the Pacific Rim as pristine, an untouched wilderness free from disturbance and pollutants, but that isn’t accurate. 

The rolling forests that we love to watch and wander through have been carefully managed for thousands of years by the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations. They have tended the forests and managed the beaches and waterways with careful intention, ensuring that the land and water will always be kept always in good health.

In a day and age where nearly everything we consume comes wrapped in plastic packaging, including our water, we are truly fortunate to have such fresh and pure water at hand. A little-known fact is that 90% of plastic water bottles are contaminated with microplastic pollution. Considering that we each unintentionally ingest about a credit card worth of plastics a week, switching from bottled water to fresh Meares Island water is truly a bounty.

This month, Surfrider Pacific Rim, in partnership with Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks, have launched the Take Back the Tap Campaign, inviting our community and visitors to be part of celebrating the fresh, delicious, and safe tap water that we are so fortunate to drink in this region. With this, we’ll be working to eliminate and ban all single-use plastic water bottles 1.5L and under from the Pacific Rim. This campaign invites all businesses to stop offering single-use plastic water bottles (1.5L and under) and instead point guests and customers towards refilling reusable bottles on site and at new and existing water dispensers throughout Tofino and Ucluelet.

Our shores don’t look overly polluted upon first glance. They seem to be miles of unadulterated fine sand or craggy rock, but Surfrider’s volunteer network has been pulling plastic debris and litter off the shoreline for years. Over a period of 16 days, during a remote clean up, 30 thousand plastic beverage bottles were collected. That is a staggering amount, and we are a community focused on reducing our impact and reducing our reliance on single-use items. The thing is, the tide washes many of those bottles and other pollutants in from elsewhere.  

Though recycling rates are on the rise in BC, less than 10% of the plastics ever made have been recycled. 60-70% of plastic water bottles end up in landfills or waterways. The bottles left adrift in the environment shed and break down, releasing millions of plastic particles to float through the ocean. That in turn is eaten by a variety of sea life and eventually returns to us on our dinner plate.  

We will continue to clean beaches and spread our message, but the bottles won’t stop washing in until change is made upstream. We urgently need regulation improvements and producer responsibility. If companies are charged for the wastes they produce and the social and environmental harm they create, they will find ways to reduce their impacts. To help hold these companies responsible, input your beach finds on our Marine Debris Tracker app. 

Water bottling companies also often take advantage of communities in stress. The companies will purchase water rights from towns struggling economically and often do great damage overdrawing from the source, leading to broad environmental harm. At Surfrider, we believe water is a human right, not a commodity to be bought and sold for profit. 

Whether you live here or are visiting, I hope you can revel in this liquid liberation: in Tofino we are stepping away from plastics, we are embracing our local resources, we are taking back the tap.