Clara Baker here. If we haven’t met yet, I am an Environmental Studies major and secretary of the OEC. I’m working right now with the Take Back the Tap campaign through Food and Water Watch. Food and Water Watch is a national non-profit organization that advocates for common sense policies that will result in access to safe and affordable drinking water. Take Back the Tap is a national campaign to cut bottled water consumption because bottled water is expensive, hurts the environment, and is not safer than tap water.
Here at Beloit, something needs to be done. Why? Because of 1,728. That’s the approximate number of bottles of water sold per semester in DKs/Java Joint alone. Hovering around 100 bottles of water a day in DKs/Java Joint, Beloit students are readily swiping away dollars and sending cases of plastic out into the world.
Whether or not you recycle bottled water bottles, 3 out of every 4 bottles of water in the US end up in landfills. In addition, bottled water in the US uses between 32 and 54 million barrels of oil to produce and transport. All this energy and consumption for water that is mostly just expensive tap water! Yes, did you know that much of the water bottled in the US is just tap water filtered and marked up to hundreds of times the cost of public water?
Here in Beloit we have access to safe, clean water. Unfortunately, the bottled water industry propagates the idea that tap water isn’t safe—when in fact it is. In reality, tap water is tested hundreds of times per month whereas bottled water is one of the least regulated industries in the US. In DKs you can get a cup of filtered water from the soda machine (up to 32 ounces!) for just 10 cents, versus $1 for 20 oz bottle of water also from DKs!
Can you taste the difference? I challenge you to come to DKs between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm, and during dinner on Wednesday, November 10th to take the Tap Water Challenge Taste Test! I think you’ll find the only difference is the cost to your wallet and the environment, but I’ll let you be the judge!
Also, on November 17th in Mayer @ 8PM, come check out Blue Gold: World Water Wars, a film highlighting the larger costs of bottled water and water privatization worldwide.
For more information on how to get involved in theTake Back the Tap Campaign, contact me, Clara Baker at bakerc@beloit.edu, and make sure to stop by the Outdoor Environmental Club (OEC) after our weekly meeting: approximately 8:45 or 9PM on Wednesday to talk more about this pressing issue. It’s time we pressure our administration to make responsible purchasing decisions, and educate our peers about the impact of buying bottled water!
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