Facilities Services over winter break installed two new Brita Hydration Stations on campus in an attempt to encourage the use of reusable water bottles.
The stations' water dispensers are specifically designed to fill reusable containers and their installation aims to encourage students to rely less on bottled water, according to Director of Dining and Business Services Patti Klos.
One of the two stations, located beside the plasticware and paper goods for the Commons Deli & Grill in the Mayer Campus Center, is the result of a joint effort between former Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senator Alice Pang and Tufts Dining Services.
Pang, a sophomore who is currently abroad, said concerns about the detrimental impact of bottled water last spring led her to launch a project through the TCU Senate's Services Committee that focused on increasing student access to water dispensers around campus.
"I wanted to explore how to reduce the number of plastic water bottles used on campus, as they are a terrible waste of resources," Pang said in an e-mail to the Daily. "The alternative to bottled water is obviously a reusable one, but I found that there was a lack of places for students to fill their reusable water bottles."
Office of Sustainability Program Director Tina Woolston said that the dispensers are a preferable alternative to water fountains or bathroom sinks for students who are trying to adopt greener drinking habits.
Pang said that she decided on Brita Hydration Stations as a practical option for Tufts students after researching the emerging trend of similar stations appearing on college campuses around the country.
The wall-mounted Hydration Stations dispense filtered water and are touch-free, activated by a motion sensor. Brita markets its filtered water as a healthier drinking option to standard tap water.
Klos said that the Campus Center was chosen as the location for one of the dispensers because of its centrality to student activity and an insufficient number of existing free drinking water options in the building.
Facilities over the winter break also installed a second Hydration Station in the lobby of Hodgdon Hall, which receives frequent foot traffic as an entrance to Hodgdon Good-to-Go.
Senior Director of Health and Wellness for Health Services Michelle Bowdler has noticed a decreasing number of drinking water fountains inside campus buildings over the last two decades.
"For the past several years, there has been more of an interest in students drinking bottled water, so they weren't as interested in having public access to water fountains," Bowdler said. "But that's really shifted over the past couple of years."
She added that increased access to drinking water on campus would also encourage healthier lifestyles among students.
"There's no substitute to drinking water in terms of overall impact of health," Bowdler said.
Klos emphasized that the campus center Hydration Station is a pilot initiative, and that student response and usage will determine whether more like it will be installed elsewhere on campus.
Woolston further emphasized the importance student feedback. "If students really like it and use it, it could lead to more around campus," Woolston added.
Last semester, Woolston co-taught an Experimental College class entitled Environmental Action: Shifting from Saying to Doing, which concentrated on a semester-long campaign to reduce bottled water waste.
Though the class poster campaign was not directly involved with the Hydration Station project, the two efforts are complementary, showing Tufts students' increased interest in greener drinking practices, Pang said.
Pang said that Dining Services' contribution to the dispensers' installation was a step towards a more eco-friendly campus.
"Their involvement really displays Dining Services' continual initiative to be more environmentally sustainable," Pang said. "[The Hydration Station] is a visual symbol that Tufts places value on environmental sustainability."
