Placing Bottle Filled Stations Filling with Campus Arizona ... · quickly than water fountains and...

Filled

with

Love

Placing Bottle

Filling

Stations

around the

University of

Arizona

Campus

Sydney Beke, Brittney Smith, Annie Mielke

So why should we stop

using disposable plastic bottles?

• The U.S. manufactures 2.6 tons of plastic for water bottles

• Producing 1 kg of PET, a product used in making plastic

water bottles, uses 17.5 kg of water.

• 47 million tons of water are used per year to

manufacture plastic water bottles in the US.

Valuable Resources Large amounts of resources are needed to produce

disposable plastic water bottles

• It’s estimated that 250 grams of

greenhouse gases are released per bottle of

imported water due to the amount of oil used to

make the bottle and ship it.

• Plastic water bottle production for the US takes

1.5 million barrels of oil per year.

Valuable Resources

What happens to

bottles that don‟t get

recycled?

• They end up in landfills and oceans

• harmful chemicals in the bottles can be absorbed

by groundwater

• Birds, fish, and other animals can die by

consuming plastic debris

• It can take thousands of years for the plastic to

decompose

• Some scientists believe the plastic never fully

decomposes.

Almost 88 percentof plastic water

bottles don‟t get recycled.

Cost

How much we spend

• Of students who did not regularly use a reusable water bottle, they purchased 6 bottles and spent an average of

almost $5 per week • This means the average student who does not use a

refillable bottle spends almost $260 on drinking water in one year.

1 Gallon of Water (purchased from a vending machine)

1 Gallon of Gas (in Tucson)

$8 $2.97

Chemical Concerns

• Disposable water bottles are made from PET

• A study in Germany found evidence that PET may contain estrogenic compounds

• These compounds may have an adverse affect hormones and reproduction

• The leaching of these chemicals into the water may be intensified as water temperature raises (such as when left in the back of a hot car)

Chemical Concerns

While the evidence did not prove

that PET plastic is harmful or not,

scientists stated that consumers

might want “to reconsider how safe

the so-called „safe‟ plastics really

are.”

What are they?

Bottle Filling Stations

Refillable water bottle stations, by Elkay, efficiently refill a reusable water bottle due to their design. The stations produce water more

quickly than water fountains and are more sanitary due to their touch-free sensors The stations can be put indoors or outdoors,

making them easily accessible. Elkay offers several different models, some specifically designed for only refilling a reusable

water bottle and some that also include a traditional water drinking fountain.

Elkay

EZH20

Retro Kit

Model

Elkay EZH20 Retro

Kit Model

• Wall mount

• Hands free

• Flow rate of up to 8 GPH

• Filtered and non-filtered options

• Non-filtered: $634

• Filtered: $699

The Elkay

EZH2O-

VRCGRN8

Combo

model (and Filtered EZH2O-

LVRCGRN8 Combo)

• Wall mount

• Utilizes both the refillable water bottle feature and the drinking fountain feature

• Flow rate is 8 GPH

• Offered in both filtered and non-filtered options

• Non-filtered: $1,612

• Filtered: $1,780

The Elkay

Outdoor

Bottle Filler

LK4400BF

model

• Wall mount

• Push to operate

• Non-filtered

• Flow rate is 0 GPH

• Price: $2,887

The Elkay Outdoor Bottle

Filler LK4400BF model

The Elkay

Outdoor

Bottle Filler

LK4400BF

model

• Floor mount

• Push to operate

• Non-filtered

• Flow rate is 0 GPH

• Price: $3,605

The Elkay Outdoor

Bottle Filler LK4400BF

model

The Elkay

Outdoor

Bottle Filler

LK4410BF

model

• Floor mount

• Utilizes both refillable water bottle station feature and drinking fountain feature

• Push to operate

• Non-filtered

• Flow rate is 0 GPH

• Price: $4,007

Where would they go?

• High traffic areas

• The most common responses from students were:

– The Student Union

– Harvill

– Koffler

– The Mall

– Near Bike Paths

– The Main Library

– The Rec

– Modern Languages

Student Reactions

• 74% of students surveyed use a refillable

bottle

• 94% of those students would use a

filling station

• 92% of students (this with and those without a

refillable bottle) would use the filling

stations

Feasibility This project would be a simple step towards the University becoming less dependent on plastic water bottles that are detrimental to the environment; student, faculty, and staff health; and would help people at the university save money. With the addition of a few machines, the use and student interest in them could be measured, and further steps could be taken.

References

• Image 5. OUTDOOR BOTTLE FILLER LK4410BF. elkayusa.com. Referenced 11/29/11.

• Image 4. OUTDOOR BOTTLE FILLER LK4400BF. elkayusa.com. Referenced 11/29/11.

• Image 3. OUTDOOR BOTTLE FILLER LK4400BF. elkayusa.com. Referenced 11/29/11.

• Image 2. EZH2O-VRCGRN8 Combo. elkayusa.com. Referenced 11/29/11.

• Image 1. EZH2O RETRO KIT. elkayusa.com. Referenced 11/29/11.

• www.safewater.org

• www.usatoday.com

• environmentalhealthnews.org

• http://parking.arizona.edu/pdf/maps/campus.pdf

• http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/04/28/water-bottles-health-02.html