Facilities Services: January 2011 Archives
This year, bottled water has been a hot topic on campus. While students have been mobilizing to reduce the amount of bottled water sold and purchased on campus (stay tuned for a blog post on the topic!), Facilities Services has also made a commitment to think outside the bottle.
The newly instituted Policy on Bottled Water eliminates plastic water bottles in Facilities Services buildings, meetings, and events. Instead, Facilities Services is providing reusable pitchers, cups, and trays for serving water at meetings and events in the Young Building, supplying each staff member with a reusable aluminum water bottle from the Office of Sustainability, and promoting the continued installation of water bottle filling stations in all Facilities staff locations.
"Facilities Services strives to be a campus leader in sustainability and this policy is just one example of our efforts to use resources -- both natural and monetary -- most efficiently," says Erin Wieand, Executive Director of Management Services, Facilities Services.
So what's the beef with plastic water bottles? They rely heavily on fossil fuels in their production, packaging, and transportation, which result in massive waste and energy use. While plastic water bottles are indeed recyclable, the vast majority does not get recycled. In fact, plastic water bottles are the fastest growing form of municipal solid waste in the U.S., resulting in more than 4 billion pounds of PET plastic bottles ending up in landfills or as roadside litter! Moreover, the federal government does not mandate that bottled water be any safer than tap water and about half of all bottled water is really tap water in disguise, as many bottled water manufacturers simply source it from municipal water supplies. For more facts and information on bottled water, visit Environmental Working Group.
The newly instituted Policy on Bottled Water eliminates plastic water bottles in Facilities Services buildings, meetings, and events. Instead, Facilities Services is providing reusable pitchers, cups, and trays for serving water at meetings and events in the Young Building, supplying each staff member with a reusable aluminum water bottle from the Office of Sustainability, and promoting the continued installation of water bottle filling stations in all Facilities staff locations.
"Facilities Services strives to be a campus leader in sustainability and this policy is just one example of our efforts to use resources -- both natural and monetary -- most efficiently," says Erin Wieand, Executive Director of Management Services, Facilities Services.
So what's the beef with plastic water bottles? They rely heavily on fossil fuels in their production, packaging, and transportation, which result in massive waste and energy use. While plastic water bottles are indeed recyclable, the vast majority does not get recycled. In fact, plastic water bottles are the fastest growing form of municipal solid waste in the U.S., resulting in more than 4 billion pounds of PET plastic bottles ending up in landfills or as roadside litter! Moreover, the federal government does not mandate that bottled water be any safer than tap water and about half of all bottled water is really tap water in disguise, as many bottled water manufacturers simply source it from municipal water supplies. For more facts and information on bottled water, visit Environmental Working Group. 
