In the U.S., plastic bottles create 2.7 billion pounds of plastic waste per year, 86% of which ends up in the garbage or as litter. On the hill, single use plastic bottles contribute to our waste stream in trashes, recycling, and litter. There is an enormous cost in petroleum to transport bottled water, when we have it already free on campus out of the taps. It supports an industry that makes billions of dollars off of people’s fears, and privatized a commodity that should be free. Olaf Students, more than 60% of the participants could not differentiate between bottled water and tap water, or guessed wrong when asked to identify which was which. Is This Unprecedented? Macalester College and the College of St. Benedict have already issued campus-wide bans on bottled water, and a bottled water ban would strengthen St. Olaf College’s commitment to having students “be responsible and knowledgeable citizens of the world”. Who We Are:
Take Back the Tap is a subcommittee of the St. Olaf Environmental Coalition, with members across the student body. We can be contacted through [email protected]!
