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Filled

with

Love

Placing Bottle

Filling

Stations

around the

University of

Arizona

Campus

Sydney Beke, Brittney Smith, Annie Mielke

So why should we stop

using disposable plastic bottles?

• The U.S. manufactures 2.6 tons of plastic for water bottles

• Producing 1 kg of PET, a product used in making plastic

water bottles, uses 17.5 kg of water.

• 47 million tons of water are used per year to

manufacture plastic water bottles in the US.

Valuable Resources Large amounts of resources are needed to produce

disposable plastic water bottles

• It’s estimated that 250 grams of

greenhouse gases are released per bottle of

imported water due to the amount of oil used to

make the bottle and ship it.

• Plastic water bottle production for the US takes

1.5 million barrels of oil per year.

Valuable Resources

What happens to

bottles that don‟t get

recycled?

• They end up in landfills and oceans

• harmful chemicals in the bottles can be absorbed

by groundwater

• Birds, fish, and other animals can die by

consuming plastic debris

• It can take thousands of years for the plastic to

decompose

• Some scientists believe the plastic never fully

decomposes.

Almost 88 percentof plastic water

bottles don‟t get recycled.

Cost

How much we spend

• Of students who did not regularly use a reusable water bottle, they purchased 6 bottles and spent an average of

almost $5 per week • This means the average student who does not use a

refillable bottle spends almost $260 on drinking water in one year.

1 Gallon of Water (purchased from a vending machine)

1 Gallon of Gas (in Tucson)

$8 $2.97

Chemical Concerns

• Disposable water bottles are made from PET

• A study in Germany found evidence that PET may contain estrogenic compounds

• These compounds may have an adverse affect hormones and reproduction

• The leaching of these chemicals into the water may be intensified as water temperature raises (such as when left in the back of a hot car)

Chemical Concerns

While the evidence did not prove

that PET plastic is harmful or not,

scientists stated that consumers

might want “to reconsider how safe

the so-called „safe‟ plastics really

are.”

What are they?

Bottle Filling Stations

Refillable water bottle stations, by Elkay, efficiently refill a reusable water bottle due to their design. The stations produce water more

quickly than water fountains and are more sanitary due to their touch-free sensors The stations can be put indoors or outdoors,

making them easily accessible. Elkay offers several different models, some specifically designed for only refilling a reusable

water bottle and some that also include a traditional water drinking fountain.

Elkay

EZH20

Retro Kit

Model

Elkay EZH20 Retro

Kit Model

• Wall mount

• Hands free

• Flow rate of up to 8 GPH

• Filtered and non-filtered options

• Non-filtered: $634

• Filtered: $699

The Elkay

EZH2O-

VRCGRN8

Combo

model (and Filtered EZH2O-

LVRCGRN8 Combo)

• Wall mount

• Utilizes both the refillable water bottle feature and the drinking fountain feature

• Flow rate is 8 GPH

• Offered in both filtered and non-filtered options

• Non-filtered: $1,612

• Filtered: $1,780

The Elkay

Outdoor

Bottle Filler

LK4400BF

model

• Wall mount

• Push to operate

• Non-filtered

• Flow rate is 0 GPH

• Price: $2,887

The Elkay Outdoor Bottle

Filler LK4400BF model

The Elkay

Outdoor

Bottle Filler

LK4400BF

model

• Floor mount

• Push to operate

• Non-filtered

• Flow rate is 0 GPH

• Price: $3,605

The Elkay Outdoor

Bottle Filler LK4400BF

model

The Elkay

Outdoor

Bottle Filler

LK4410BF

model

• Floor mount

• Utilizes both refillable water bottle station feature and drinking fountain feature

• Push to operate

• Non-filtered

• Flow rate is 0 GPH

• Price: $4,007

Where would they go?

• High traffic areas

• The most common responses from students were:

– The Student Union

– Harvill

– Koffler

– The Mall

– Near Bike Paths

– The Main Library

– The Rec

– Modern Languages

Student Reactions

• 74% of students surveyed use a refillable

bottle

• 94% of those students would use a

filling station

• 92% of students (this with and those without a

refillable bottle) would use the filling

stations

Feasibility This project would be a simple step towards the University becoming less dependent on plastic water bottles that are detrimental to the environment; student, faculty, and staff health; and would help people at the university save money. With the addition of a few machines, the use and student interest in them could be measured, and further steps could be taken.

References

• Image 5. OUTDOOR BOTTLE FILLER LK4410BF. elkayusa.com. Referenced 11/29/11.

• Image 4. OUTDOOR BOTTLE FILLER LK4400BF. elkayusa.com. Referenced 11/29/11.

• Image 3. OUTDOOR BOTTLE FILLER LK4400BF. elkayusa.com. Referenced 11/29/11.

• Image 2. EZH2O-VRCGRN8 Combo. elkayusa.com. Referenced 11/29/11.

• Image 1. EZH2O RETRO KIT. elkayusa.com. Referenced 11/29/11.

• www.safewater.org

• www.usatoday.com

• environmentalhealthnews.org

• http://parking.arizona.edu/pdf/maps/campus.pdf

• http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/04/28/water-bottles-health-02.html