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Sustainability in Practice: Bottled Water Bans Gain Traction (Featuring Chatham University)
FoodService Director Magazine

Recycling plastic water bottles has long been routine at many institutions, but now some operations think that doesn’t go far enough; they want to get rid of the bottles completely. With sustainability top of mind for many departments, reducing the impact of bottled water has become a growing trend among college and university campuses.

Going all in at Chatham University, Pittsburgh: Many options were discussed at Chatham University when university administrators said they wanted to eliminate bottled water on campus, according to Leslie Ekstrand, general manager for Parkhurst Dining Services at the university.

“It’s something [the university] had been talking about for a while,” Ekstrand says. “We looked at cans since those are better than plastic. We looked at a lighter plastic bottle and finally looked at water dispenser units. We went through a whole series of processes trying to figure out what would be the most convenient for students. We eventually ended up [choosing] a local filtered water company. The company put their water dispensers all around campus. Each of the incoming first-year students received a free reusable bottle. The university bought a whole bunch of other water bottles and underwrote the cost of them, so we sell them in our retail locations for like $2 even though they cost a lot more.”

The water stations were the most attractive option, according to Ekstrand, because they were cost effective and had the smallest piece of equipment that provided the service the department wanted. Ekstrand says the department has not had any pushback from students as a result
of the switch.

“I really expected students to feel inconvenienced by it,” Ekstrand says. “I think there was a really good job communicating that this was what was happening and why. Now it is just part of the culture. The university has a school of sustainability so I think this effort dovetailed nicely with what that school is trying to do.”

Education was the effort’s biggest challenge, says Ekstrand. Marketing included emails and signage that told students there would soon be no bottled water and why that change was happening. Ekstrand says the department was previously buying about 15 to 20 cases of water per week. Now those bottles are not going into the waste stream.

“The biggest challenge was making sure the education happened,” Ekstrand says. “Other than that it was pretty seamless. As long as you are prepared with your marketing and [the bottle water ban] is a whole campus initiative [it can be an easy change]. The bookstore is a different business than ours, but they also don’t sell bottled water anymore. It works better when everyone is on the same page.”



View original article here
Sustainability in Practice: Bottled Water Bans Gain Traction (Featuring Chatham University)
FoodService Director Magazine

Recycling plastic water bottles has long been routine at many institutions, but now some operations think that doesn’t go far enough; they want to get rid of the bottles completely. With sustainability top of mind for many departments, reducing the impact of bottled water has become a growing trend among college and university campuses.

Going all in at Chatham University, Pittsburgh: Many options were discussed at Chatham University when university administrators said they wanted to eliminate bottled water on campus, according to Leslie Ekstrand, general manager for Parkhurst Dining Services at the university.

“It’s something [the university] had been talking about for a while,” Ekstrand says. “We looked at cans since those are better than plastic. We looked at a lighter plastic bottle and finally looked at water dispenser units. We went through a whole series of processes trying to figure out what would be the most convenient for students. We eventually ended up [choosing] a local filtered water company. The company put their water dispensers all around campus. Each of the incoming first-year students received a free reusable bottle. The university bought a whole bunch of other water bottles and underwrote the cost of them, so we sell them in our retail locations for like $2 even though they cost a lot more.”

The water stations were the most attractive option, according to Ekstrand, because they were cost effective and had the smallest piece of equipment that provided the service the department wanted. Ekstrand says the department has not had any pushback from students as a result
of the switch.

“I really expected students to feel inconvenienced by it,” Ekstrand says. “I think there was a really good job communicating that this was what was happening and why. Now it is just part of the culture. The university has a school of sustainability so I think this effort dovetailed nicely with what that school is trying to do.”

Education was the effort’s biggest challenge, says Ekstrand. Marketing included emails and signage that told students there would soon be no bottled water and why that change was happening. Ekstrand says the department was previously buying about 15 to 20 cases of water per week. Now those bottles are not going into the waste stream.

“The biggest challenge was making sure the education happened,” Ekstrand says. “Other than that it was pretty seamless. As long as you are prepared with your marketing and [the bottle water ban] is a whole campus initiative [it can be an easy change]. The bookstore is a different business than ours, but they also don’t sell bottled water anymore. It works better when everyone is on the same page.”



View original article here