banning bottled water on campus: beyond excuses chrissy cooley [email protected] email me! i...
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Banning Bottled Water on Campus: Beyond Excuses
Chrissy [email protected]
Email me! I love talking about bottled water restrictions.
#beyondexcuses
The Story of Bottled Water
Impact and Implications• Nearly a billion people lack access to safe drinking
water, even more to proper sanitation• Communities right here in the US are giving up
their public water to be bottled and sold back to them at a cost
• Bottled Water plants bring very few, low wage jobs
Environmental Concerns• Bottled water wastes fossil fuels in production and transport.
• Bottled water production in the United States used the energy equivalent of 32 and 54 million barrels of oil to produce and transport plastic water bottles in 2007—enough to fuel about 1.5 million cars for a year.
• Waste Stream – only about 30% of plastic bottles end up in the recycling• Mining of the water drains aquifers faster than they can be replenished
To me bottled water is a symbol and a symptom of how far our culture has strayed from the path of conscience, responsibility and respect for life on earth. - Mykala McDonald University of Vermont
Service Economy
• A business creates services rather than tangible objects• Interface Carpeting• Soda refill stations
#beyondexcuses#aashe2014
The ChallengeThe challenge is not banning bottled water!A ban on bottled water meets a deeper need. The challenge is really to:• Change systems, not simply minimize the symptoms
• Creating a policy around responsible water infrastructure creates a replicable process that can build the critical mass around a sustainable behavior.
• Use universities as society’s mavens• Work on a cause that will simultaneously build bridges
across your entire campus• This is a campaign that gets people to think of
environmental issues being intrinsically linked to human quality of life
Inhibitors to Change
Fear Hope
Apathy Anger
Self-Doubt You Can Make a Difference
Inertia Urgency
• Marshal Ganz
Change ManagementUnfreezing
1. Introduce Urgency2. Assemble your guiding team3. Create a common vision4. Communicate for buy-in5. Empower Action6. Create Short Term Wins
Change 7. Just do it!
Refreezing 8. Build into existing structures
- John Kotter
Unfreezing
Introduce Urgency• Often community specific• Urgency can be manufactured, but it works
best when in falls in step with pre-existing goal
I should say that it is disturbing that the banning of bottled water is too often thought of as a waste reduction initiative (i.e. we'll use fewer plastic bottles)… The issue is about the commodification of water and about all of the environmental impacts of the beverage industry.
– Alana Lajoie-O'Malley University of
Winnepeg
Water: You need it to live• Public Good
• Non-excludable• Non-rivalrous
• Commodification of Water• The commodification of water refers to the process
of transforming water from a public good into a tradable commodity
• Human right• Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings,
whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.
- United Nations Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights
Unfreezing
Assemble your guiding team by identifying your mavens and seek out your opposition
In spring, 2011, an undergraduate student proposal was presented to the University Sustainability Council that sought to reduce the consumption of bottled water on campus. The Council recognized the many issues surrounding bottled water and established a Bottled Water Committee to review the matter. This Committee consisted of key stakeholders including students, faculty and staff representing Dining Services, Student Affairs, Business Services and Athletics.
- Aynsley Toews University of Maryland
• Empower Action• Thank you notes• Leave ample time for dialogue
• Provide resource maps• Student Green Fees• Sample campaigns• Film showings• ???
Unfreezing
Food and Water WatchTBTT National Forum Group Katy Kiefer, Activist Network Coordinator ([email protected])
• Create a common vision
• Communicate for buy-in
Water privatization is the reason why the student body voted to ban the sale of bottle water as selling bottled water is in direct conflict with Jesuit values of social responsibility.
– Gina Lettiere Loyola University Chicago
Unfreezing
Unfreezing
Create Short Term Wins and do not let up!• Getting reusable bottles in hands • Water Refill Stations• Write the policy• Communicate positively through events
Examples of Responsible Water Infrastructure
The Change• Pass a policy
Build into existing structures• Catering contracts• Vending agreements• Written posted policy distributed widely• New student orientation• ???
Keep the coalition strong for this stage
Refreezing
I think students often think that the administration will be resistant to changes and that's not always the case. This was an example where students wanted something, provided a case for it and reasoning behind it, and CDS worked hard to implement it -- and it worked! It is something people can look to and note that CDS (and College administration) is a lot more receptive to ideas than the students might think.
- Bridget Flynn Oberlin College
Don’t forget that even if a ban is not possible, working to reduce the existing demand now will make it possible in the future.
What would stop you from banning bottled water on your
campus?
Chrissy Cooley
#beyondexcuses