Pacific University
IN-1: Innovation 1

Hydration Stations--Pacific grads Terra Nielson ’11 and Sara Brells ’11 succeeded in reducing the number of plastic water bottles sold on campus in 2010-11. Dining Services at Pacific University agreed to the DRINK LOCAL campaign and no longer provides bottled water for sale, though there are bottles still available in vending machines. Instead of using and discarding plastic bottles, students now refill their own bottles at one of several hydration stations found on campus. Hydration stations have been successful. Here are the current numbers for refills as of 11-8-11. The stations were installed during the first two weeks of the semester. UC Lower level - 2085 UC Main floor - 3013 Library - 1401 Mac Hall - 3327 Walter Hall - 3740 Clark Hall - 7741 Total refills - 31,307 Theoretically we have saved 31K plastic water bottles from the landfill. The hydration stations cost approximately $1000.00 installed. They feature both the traditional drinking fountain and a water bottle platform for refills. To refill the 20 oz. CASSS bottles we handed out to freshmen takes about 12 seconds. A HUGE thanks to Dave Cookman in Facilities for assisting with the ordering and installation of the six hydration stations. We have plans to add more across campus as funds become available.