Fountains encourage reuse of bottles
A new student initiative has left an early mark on campus, adding new water bottle-filling units to drinking fountains in the Taggart Student Center and the Merrill-Cazier Library.
As of June, these new units make it possible for students to drink from one faucet and fill up their water bottles from another.
Diversity vice president Brooke Evans led the initiative. “The goal is to promote the use of our quality local tap water and refillable water bottles, thus reducing the waste of both plastic bottles as well as the fossil fuels that it takes to transport them,” she said. “Most bottled water is just tap water bottled then sent across the U.S. to consumers who then pay for tap water.”
The initiative is part of Evans’ service learning capstone.
For funding for the project, Evans went to assistant vice president for Student Services Eric Olsen. “(He) was extremely responsive and jumped right on board when I told him my idea,” Evans said.
Though Evans proposed the idea and saw it through to completion, she said she did not have an idea of how much the project had cost.
A Statesman straw poll shows that so far the new fountains seem to be getting only positive responses.
Skyler Saunders, a transfer student from Utah Valley University majoring in biology said, “I like it. Cause ya know when you fill it up (from the spout) you get that weird angle. Ya know, and it doesn’t fill up all the way.”
“I like that I don’t have to prop up my knee while holding my book to get my water bottle filled,” said Ryan Beeter, a junior majoring in nutrition.
Paul Perry, an incoming freshman studying aerospace engineering, said. “It’s just really convenient. You don’t have to worry about it.”
The new fountains also keep track of how many times the bottle-filling function has been used. The unit with the most recorded water-bottle fills is on the first floor of the TSC, which has been used over 5,500 times.
The next step, Evans said, is to get the support of the various deans and spread the initiative across the entire campus. She also wants to hold a water bottle drive for students who would be willing to carry water bottles if they had one.
“I do hope to ban the sale of bottled water on campus”, she said. “But if nothing else just encourage the sustainable alternative by bringing your own bottle and drinking local tap water by making these filling stations more accessible as well as education about bottled water waste etc.,” she said.
While the installation of the filling fountains has returned only positive feedback, so far, the idea of banning water bottle sales on campus has gotten mixed reviews.
Speech communications major Ben Williams, who ran for president of ASUSU executive council last year, said, “It’s a person’s own prerogative how they are going to spend their money, what they’re going to spend their money on. Also, to restrict water bottle sales on campus seems fairly communist to me. If you start restricting that on campus, where’s the end of it?”
He said, “I would imagine that whoever is forming that opinion is not well informed on what water bottle sales are at the university.”
Williams said he, himself, carries a Nalgene bottle daily, but on the days that he forgets to bring it he feels he should have the option of purchasing water on campus.
Ben Wilson, a senior majoring in political science said, “I understand the sentiment. However, at the end of the day I believe that people should have the freedom to make wrong decisions if they would like to, including something so basic as if they would like to buy a water bottle or not.”
Laura Andersen, a junior majoring in political science and economics and the president of the College Democrats said, “I think it’s really great initiative. Plastic water bottles are a complete waste of plastic that could be used elsewhere. In this situation you have to look at the greater good. It’s not an infringement on rights. At the end of the day you can still make a consumer purchase. Is consuming that bottle of water really worth it?”
Political science major Mike Smith and a former member of the USU debate team said, “If water bottles actually are a significant factor in environmental degradation then I would definitely support a top-down ban on their sales.”
Evans said she suspects USU Dining Services might also have a problem with banning water bottle sales on campus, and that eliminating sales might disrupt USU’s contract with Coca-Cola, who supplies Dasani bottled water on campus.
“The hope is that students will get into the habit of bringing their re-usable water bottles,” she said. “We all know that everyone has at least one, they just need to get the habit of always bringing it with them.”
– robmjepson@gmail.com