University News

Water Bottle Filling Stations

August 19, 2013

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MACOMB, IL - Along with thinking purple, Western Illinois University students, faculty and staff are encouraged to also "think green" as they return to campus this fall.

Six water bottle refilling stations are located across campus, and according to Mandi Green, sustainability coordinator, 14 additional stations will be installed by the end of the 2013-2014 academic year. Current locations include Campus Recreation, Sherman Hall (second floor), Tanner and Thompson halls, Physical Plant and the University Union (near the Bookstore). Some of the new locations to be installed this year include the Malpass Library and Western, Morgan, Simpkins and Horrabin halls.

According to greenupgrader.com, plastic bottles take 700 years to begin composting, and each year in the U.S., 38 million plastic water bottles go to the dump.

"I encourage members of our campus community to bring their reusable water bottles to campus and take advantage of the water refilling stations. Not only does refilling our water bottles help save our planet, it also saves the 'green' in our wallet," she added.

Since the installation of the six refilling stations, Green estimates that more than 77,200 16 oz. water bottles have been diverted from the landfill.

For more information on the refilling stations and other sustainability initiatives, visit wiu.edu/sustainability.


Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing