Student group to consider adding more stations
According to the estimate of the water bottle filling station, over 16,000 water bottles have been saved in the three months since the station’s installation Dec. 4, averaging over 175 bottles saved every day, as of March 6.
The station was installed by Roots and Shoots, the student group dedicated to promoting environmentally friendly behavior at school. According to the group’s co-leader senior Anders Conroy, the water bottle stations were meant to encourage students to bring reusable bottles from home. Conroy said he thinks the filling station has performed its desired function so far.
“Students really love the filler,” Conroy said. “It’s fun and cool, and people like that it has an environmental impact as well.”
Due to the positive response to the first station, Conroy said the group hopes to install another station in the next month. Roots and Shoots held a fundraiser ending Dec. 12 to fund another station, and raised $578. Conroy said the group will require administrative approval to install another station.
“We need to get additional funding from the school, since the stations are more expensive than we originally realized,” Conroy said. “If we get approval, the new station can be installed within a week.”
Roots and Shoots adviser Jeremy Riehle said he hopes the filling stations will increase awareness of environmental issues among the student body, but he has doubts.
“I would hope and expect that students would think about the environmental impact of the station, and transfer that to other areas of their lives,” Riehle said. “However, when you look at what a poor job of recycling our school does, I question that.”
Freshman Luke Cichoski said he thinks part of the appeal of the filling station is its environmental impact.
“People might use the stations just because they’re convenient, but they know it saves the environment too. That might be why it’s been used so much,” Cichoski said.
