The Office of Sustainability sent a survey to students last week about the use of reusable and plastic water bottles on campus and askedif the University should continue to sell plastic water bottles.
The survey, which also asked if anything prevents students from using refillable bottles, was intended to improve the Office of Sustainability’s “Drink Local” campaign, according to Shana Weber, the director of the Office of Sustainability.
The "Drink Local" campaign provides tall spouts attached to water fountains around campus to fill water bottles.
Weber declined to say whether there was a possibility of eliminating the sale of plastic bottles on campus, although she said that the Office of Sustainability is trying to change the University’s approach to water distribution.
“The Office of Sustainability is working in partnership with students, [Campus] Dining and the psychology department to develop a research-based approach that should significantly reduce bottled water usage on campus,” Weber said. “We are still in the process of working out the details of a multi-faceted bottled water strategy with all our partners as part of developing Princeton’s Sustainability Plan 2.0.”
Reka Zempleni ’16, a project leader for the Office of Sustainability, said she is enthusiastic about the prospect of change. She said that tap water is equally as good as, if not better than, bottled water.
“The Office of Sustainability is very concerned about this, but the thing is that they don’t want to force anything on the student body,” Zempleni said. “If it’s coming from the students, then they will help us make things change.”
Leigh Anne Schriever ’16 said she believes that the eventual goal should be to have zero sales of plastic water bottles on campus.Schriever is involved inthe Princeton Sustainable Investment Initiative and Students United for a Responsible Global Environment.
Although the goal of selling no plastic water bottles is immense, making plastic water bottles not purchasable with late meal money would be beneficial to sustainability efforts, Schriever said.
“I think it’s a good idea, and I think it has a lot of support within the environmental groups on campus,” Schriever said about the total ban.
ZachariahDeGiulio ’18, co-president of Greening Princeton, said that the debate over a ban on the sale of plastic water bottles was actually sparked by students working with Campus Dining, as opposed to the Office of Sustainability. The ban that is being debated would also not affect the U-Store, which is an independent organization, DeGiulio said.
“I think most of the people involved in the green groups agree that banning single-use water bottles would be extremely beneficial in promoting the use of refillable bottles on campus,” DeGiulio said.
Students interviewed who were not affiliated with environmental groups had differing perspectives on a potential ban on the sale of plastic water bottles.
Erin Nurre ’18 said she strongly opposes the purchase of plastic bottles.
“I think that bottling water is one of the biggest scams that’s ever been invented, but we’re buying into it on every place on campus,” Nurre said. “Water is literally free, and the University offers so many water fill-up stations on campus that I just think it’s ridiculous that people spend $3 for a bottle of water and then throw the bottle out, not in a recycling bin.”
Trevor Klee ’15 said he thought the quality of sustainability initiatives could be improved in general.
“I mean they’re going to do what they’re going to do. I don’t know,” Klee said. “The sustainability initiatives get a little questionable sometimes, like with the plastic cups downstairs [in Frist Campus Center]. Is that really better than using plastic water bottles?”
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