On September 1, 2010 the University of Ottawa, in collaboration with the Student Federation (SFUO), will be the first University in Ontario to put a complete and immediate stop to the sale of bottled water on its campuses. This is only one of many sustainable development initiatives undertaken by the university in recent years.

Students, faculty, staff and other members of the uOttawa community are encouraged to find other ways of quenching their thirst for water throughout the day, such as filling up cups, glasses and re-usable bottles at the nearest fountain or tap on campus.

Since 2008, the University of Ottawa has invested over $100,000 to revitalize its water fountains and an additional $75,000 will be invested next year.

The improvements include gooseneck fountains for quick and easy filling of re-usable bottles, new fountains near food service outlets, upgrades to existing fountains, wheelchair accessibility, stronger pressure and better refrigeration.

“Our green initiatives have had an impact on our students and community in two important ways. First, our initiatives have resulted in a cleaner environment for our community. Equally important, we’ve taken the $31 million in energy cost savings and invested the amount directly in education, support services and research — things that matter to our students, our faculty and our community,” stated Allan Rock, president of the University of Ottawa.

[via Inside the Bottle]

Here is a GREAT example of student and faculty taking a proactive approach to the Bottled Water issue – EDUCATING! Professors from The College of William and Mary in Virginia presented economical, environmental, historical & philosophical points on the current bottled water situation.  In addition, Curtis Etherly, the Vice President for Public Affairs and Communications at Coca-Cola,  joined the forum.  You know the Coca-Cola Enterprise that owns Dasani water?! Mr. Etherly spoke first  and gave examples of how his company is attempting to reduce their carbon footprint by creating bottles that are lighter and using 327 hybrid trucks. Interesting…..

This unique event was actually sponsored by an even cooler campaign “Do One Thing” (DOT).  The campaign encourages students to make one sustainability-related change in their lives and to publicly by held responsible by posting their change on their facebook page. 

Interesting, quick read – super good points and ideas for other to use!

Dog Street Journal

Students at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, are doing their part to help reduce their plastic footprint by initiating a campus-wide plastic bottle plan this winter.

In a typical year, Brown University distributes as many as 250,000 bottles of water on campus. After some students started campaigning against using the bottles, the total dropped by 40,000.

By this time next year, some students hope the total will be zero.

That is the goal of the Beyond the Bottle Campaign, a student-run effort to eliminate bottled water on campus.

Continue Reading on www.projo.com >>

Here at Ban the Bottle we get a lot of questions on how to implement a Ban the Bottle group at individual workplaces, schools or even just how to make a difference one person at a time.  The idea that in 2007 Americans consumed 8.8 billion gallons of bottled can seem daunting when trying to curb bottled water use. BUT the good news is that in 2008 that number dropped to 8.7 billion, which means that people are becoming aware and every little bit helps.

So here is a list of ideas, suggestions, and tips on how to get the movement going in your area!

1. Buy a Reusable Water Bottle – duh! Buy yourself, your mom, sister, boyfriend, teacher, neighbor, and/or boss a reusable water bottle. Little by little you can infiltrate their bottled water use by providing them with the tools to make the change! It doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money – make a promise to buy one reusable bottle a week and give to someone else. If you are a student buy one from the bookstore and give it to your school President, at work give it to your boss. Include a note that says “Thanks for helping ban the bottle!”

2. Start a Facebook or MySpace Page. Get your friends and families involved and ask them to pass on the word. Find other groups and build your friend list.  Start educating people with articles, facts, pictures, etc. Utilize all the free tools from the social media sites and invite people to events, tag them in photos, start discussions, etc.

3. Host a Ban the Bottle event! There are so many things that you can do to encourage and educate people about bottled water. Host a party at your house, lunch room, dorm room, park, etc. Invite people via email and Facebook/MySpace. At the party have multiple “tasks” for guests to do.

• Sign a Declaration – www.tappedthemovie.com has a declaration page which will commit people to curbing bottled water consumption. When people sign their name to something they will generally read what they are signing…generally.
• Write a letter/email to the government asking them to stop using your money for bottled water – www.congress.org. You can enter your zip code and the site will give you a list of people to send to and the issues you want to address.
• Tell celebrities to stop endorsing bottled water. www.tappedthemovie.com has two direct links to Tom Brady and Jennifer Aniston; both are spokespeople for Smart Water.
• Make the event day your official Ban the Bottle day! Start telling people today is Ban the Bottle Day and they will believe it! Changing their habit for one day will not only make a difference but will also make them aware of their impact.

4. Host or Organize a Viewing of “Tapped” the movie. The movie is still in theaters and numerous locations are showing the movie every month. Find one close to you and invite colleagues, friends, and students to watch with you. Or wait for it to come out on DVD and host your own movie night.

5. Talk to Administrators at Your School or Office. Getting the top people from your organization or school involved is key to any campaign. Request a meeting with your President, Vice President, Catering Manager, Student Body President, Human Resources Manager, anyone that will listen really!  Present the facts, plead your case and ask for vocal support. More than likely they won’t be able to give you funding for anything but your goal is to have them aware, educated and active.  You are going to do all the work, they just need to say “I agree!”.

6. Get Local Community Support. Approach companies that are like-minded and would have reusable water bottles for sale.  A lot of companies are branding their reusable bottles with their logos and would be willing to support your efforts if it gets their company some free advertising. Call or send an email to a manager at a grocery store, construction office, sports team, Home Depot, Costco, etc and ask if they would like to support your cause by donating 5 reusable water bottles. If you get 10 companies involved you can start giving away their bottles as promotional or raffle items at your events.

A college in Canada is taking steps to ban the bottle and stay hydrated using a new product called Hydration Station.

The water-dispensing device is a unique system/filling station for re-usable bottles. The College is the first facility in Canada to have a working unit. The hydration station is manufactured by the Haws Corporation and is sold in Canada through Dobbin Sales.

The hydration station processes tap water into pure water using state-of-the-art filtration technologies, which can be substituted whenever a specification calls for a drinking fountain. Before water reaches the nozzle, it runs through an NSF-certified filter to remove sediment, chlorine taste and odour. The system provides a hygienic, safe source for refilling personal re-usable bottles says Phil Kelly, Dobbin Sales.

Georgian College’s commitment to environmental sustainability has been underscored by the recent installation of a hydration station at the Barrie Campus as a pilot project.

“The hydration station provides an excellent alternative to plastic water bottles,” he said. “The fact that Georgian College is the first facility in Canada to adopt this technology says a great deal about its dedication to a ‘green’ community.”

The hydration station fulfills the College’s environmental sustainable directive, says Dianne Corrigan, Environmental Sustainability Co-ordinator.

“Georgian’s Physical Resources department and the Environmental Sustainability Committee are continually looking for ways to embed environmental sustainability into the College’s day-to-day operations,” she said. “The hydration station is the perfect answer to our mandate, which includes finding ways to diminish our environmental impact and incorporate ‘green’ living into corporate culture.”

The hydration station was acquired by Physical Resources in response to a request to reduce the use of plastic bottles on campus. The unit, which is located on the third floor of the C Building at the Barrie Campus across from Room C315, was generously donated to the College by the Haws Corporation. There is a potential for more than 30 units College-wide when fully implemented.

For more information on environmental sustainability initiatives at Georgian College, visit http://www.georgianc.on.ca/environment/.

[via Georgian News]

Washington University has recently launched a ban on plastic water bottle sales amid environmental concerns.  Faculty, students, and staff on the Danforth, North, and West campuses are no longer able to find bottled water in vending machines or campus eateries.

Because of concerns about the environmental impact of bottled water, the University has ended sales of the product, and administrative offices will no longer offer bottled water at events and meetings. Instead, faculty, staff, students, and guests are encouraged to drink tap water and use reusable water containers.

“Plastic bottled water represents significant energy and waste issues,” said Matt Malten, assistant vice chancellor for sustainability. “It requires tremendous amounts of energy in production, packaging, transportation and recycling. National statistics show that the rate plastic bottles are recycled is low and getting lower, as more end up in landfills,” Malten said. “Members of the Washington University community all have access to healthy water from a tap, and drinking tap water eliminates the generation of solid waste and energy usage to produce bottled water.”

The tap water in St. Louis was rated as best in the country by the U.S. Mayor’s Conference in 2007.  Henry S. Webber, executive vice chancellor for administration, has requested that the deans of each of the University’s schools stop offering bottled water at their school’s events. Tap water is readily available on the Danforth, North, and West campuses, said Liz Kramer, a fellow in the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Administration. Nearly all buildings on campus feature multiple drinking fountains, and cold-water containers are located in Holmes Lounge and Whispers Cafe in Olin Library. Kramer is in the process of mapping the locations of additional fountains on the Danforth Campus.

Reducing the use of bottled water on campus is just one of many steps WUSTL is taking to reduce its impact on the environment. And it’s a step, said Deborah Howard, special assistant to the executive vice chancellor for administration, that the administration couldn’t implement without the support of others on campus — especially Washington University Dining Services and students, who led their own campaign to promote the use of tap water on campus.

Last October, during Campus Sustainability Week, students hosted water taste tests to show that there is little taste difference between bottled water and tap water. Students also sold reusable water bottles at the Danforth University Center.

WUSTL is the first university to ban the sale and use of bottled water in its administrative offices, dining services and vending machines, Kramer said. Even with the changes, faculty, staff, and students still will be allowed to bring their own bottled water to campus.

[via The Record]

Starting May 16, bottled water will no longer be sold on the Belmont University, a school in Nashville Tennessee.

The announcement came on Monday at the beginning of Earth Week.  Belmont officials said they are trying to cut down on waste and decided bottled water is not practical for people or the environment.”We’re going to drink out of water fountains, get cups of water, what we did before we had (bottles) so readily available,” said Dr. Judy Skeen of Belmont University’s Environmental Initiative.

Purifying filters will be added to any water fountains on campus that did not already have them.

[via WSMV Nashville]

Students at Seattle University are uniting to ban the bottle, part of a nationwide student-led initiative to stop the sale of bottled water on college campuses and promote sustainable alternatives.  2009 marks Seattle U’s second year of participation in Ban the Bottle. Last year there was not enough student and faculty support to facilitate a formal change in the university’s contract with Pepsi, the company who supplies Seattle U with Aquafina bottled water, said Seattle U alumni Gretchenrae Callanta, who co-led the campaign last year with fellow alumnus Nick McCarvel.

Ron Smith, Seattle U’s vice president of finance and business affairs, said the administrators are open to discussing a ban on bottled water.

“I think we are all in support of the educational process and trying to move in that direction,” he said.

Eco-conscious students unite to ‘Ban the Bottle’ [via The Spectator at Seattle University]