University’s Ban on Bottled Water Stirs Controversy

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If you become thirsty while on the University of Vermont campus, don’t bother looking for bottled water. This year, the school will become the first campus in the U.S. to completely restrict the sale of bottled water in vending machines and any food establishments. The university will spend the next year installing “filling stations” for reusable water bottles around campus, and by January 2013, the school will be completely single-use water bottle free.

The move comes as part of a healthy campus initiative that also mandates one-third of all drinks sold on campus be “healthy options,” like juice and tea, and no beverage offering can contain high fructose corn syrup. The university has been in contract with Coca-Cola of Northern New England for the last 10 years, which provided more than 1.1 million bottles of soda and water to the campus’ 57 vending machines, retail outlets and dining halls every year. That contract expires in May 2012, and the university will not renew it

“We have already invested in our municipal drinking water and we have clean, safe water. We don’t need to be drinking out of single-use bottles that are just going to get thrown away,” Thompson says.

“The fact that they have banned bottled water but are also saying that vending machines must be stocked with healthy beverages makes no sense. Bottled water has to be the healthiest thing you can put in a vending machine,” says Hogan. He adds that it also restricts the choices of campus visitors and interested students.

“They have eliminated a choice, and when you eliminate a choice, some people are inevitably going to see that as restrictive,” he says. “It’s an area of concern, because there are some people for whom bottled water is a very important choice. They may be immune compromised or diabetic and for medical reasons they will need to have a reliably consistent and safe beverage, and bottled water is specifically chosen for those reasons.”

"Tap water is fine to drink,” he says. “But our argument is that the school is eliminating the healthiest choice in any packaged beverage. It’s unfair that they are making the choice for anyone who comes on campus: No one will have access to bottled water.”

Here's my opinion: While eliminating a small amount of waste by not allowing the sale of bottled water on campus, they are missing one important factor. Each one of the "reusable" bottles will have to be washed. This will create more "waste water", and the use of more detergents. While I support the University in finding ways to keep their students healthy and reduce waste, there are other ways to go about it instead of removing bottled water from the campus.....it's called RECYCLING.....Instead of trying to regulate the most healthy option for students drinking needs, it should help enforce a University wide recycling program for plastic bottles.

....I'm not even going to touch the "tap water is fine to drink" comment....

I like the idea of them throwing out the garbage High Fructose Corn Syrup drinks as well as the single use water bottles.
It is a win win situation and if a person wants water all they need do is carry a water bottle.
The trick to not having to clean them is to not drink chocolate milk out of their water bottle.
I disagree with the OP's argument.
Good for the school!

(Edit)
And just for clarity on the "waste water" and "detergent" "issue"?
This goes to show how far away from our roots but, if a bottle might be contaminated, a little bit of baking soda and water does wonders to kill the gnasties inside.
It is funny, there are 12 year old boys that know this but maybe not so much a University scholar.

reply to post by g146541


At least we both can agree on the removal of drinks containing high-fructose corn syrup.

That IS a wise decision. IMO, if they are truely worried about waste plastic bottles, why stop with just bottles containing water? Instead of selling juices and other such products in their vending machines and cafeterias, they could offer them "on tap" shall we say, and use a reusable bottle for this also. This would remove just as many waste bottles...but again, it just doesn't seem right to me to remove the choice from the University.

....as for your cleaning method... A very good option, but as you stated, not everyone is aware of that.

Just got flouridated water in the municpal supply by any chance ?? This smacks of you will drink the poison we give you and no you will not have an alternative

Here's my opinion: While eliminating a small amount of waste by not allowing the sale of bottled water on campus, they are missing one important factor. Each one of the "reusable" bottles will have to be washed.

Why?.....its just water! I could see this as a good thing as long as the water delivered is RO or distilled.
2nd

reply to post by isyeye


Agreed, but juice on tap could bring up many more problems with maintenance.
Water bottles only contain your germs therefore you can reuse them.
Juice bottles on the other hand if reused could potentially become stills.
And don't tell me a college kid would ever lrt their juice bottle get that bad, I have seen some very nasty dorm rooms.

reply to post by FFS4000


Not all water supplies are fluoridated, but if truly worried many just might bring their own filtered water.
I drink no water that has not been through my filter at home, I wont even boil my noodles in tap water.
EVERYTHING gets filtered except the bathwater.

reply to post by Zippidee


The reason the bottles must be washed is not because they contained water, it's because once the bottle touches someone's hands or lips, it has been contaminated. If not washed properly washed they can be hazardous......ever heard of "back wash".......

For example, the drummer in my band leaves his water bottle sitting by his drums after practice. I usually don't notice it for a day or two, and when I pick it up to go wash it, there are all kinds of things growing in it.

reply to post by g146541

And don't tell me a college kid would ever lrt their juice bottle get that bad, I have seen some very nasty dorm rooms.

That's the kicker right there.........see my above post.........even with just water in the bottle, left alone and not properly cleaned, reusable bottles are hazardous, and like you said, a college kid may not be the cleanest.

Bottled water isn't any purer or contaminant-free than most tap water, and plastic used in food/water containers are one of the biggest sources of BPA (Bisphenol A), personally I prefer to use my own reusable BPA-free water bottle that can be refilled at a filtered water source, than a vending machine product.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


That is a very valid point.....If the university is truely concerned about the well-being of the students, it would be wise to offer reusable BPA-free water bottles to the students. Thank you for adding this to the discussion.

And as for bottled water being safer, you are correct, in most cases bottled water is not any safer than tap.

reply to post by isyeye


I don't see anything wrong with this policy, but that's because I've always been against bottled water. Seriously, paying for a bottle of water? I have a filter on my faucet and a reusable filtered bottle.. more filling stations, that'd be great for people like me! Bottled Water (much of which comes from municipal water supplies like, say, Detroit....) is the biggest scam ever.

As a recent graduate of UVM ('10) I feel obligated to chime in here. To preface this post, I grew up and now currently reside in central Vermont in a house with a private well...thus, I grew up drinking unadulterated, mountain-fed well water. While at UVM I lived on-campus in the university's newest dorms, University Heights, for my first 3 years. I just couldn't stand how bad the water tasted in the dorms (I soon found out it was the same all through campus). It didn't have the typical fluoride taste, tasted more like chlorine, but regardless it was heavily treated. I ended up buying a PUR water filter/pitcher which I used for most of my drinking water needs, it helped remove most of the chemical taste. However, when I was in the middle of 2-3 classes I turned to bottled water over going to a fountain.

For my final year I lived off-campus just outside of Burlington. The water was worse. Continued using the water filter pitcher and bought bottled water in bulk from the grocery store. [I also remember how clean I always felt when I would be home on break taking showers with clean well water again.] Then again...I was/am spoiled with good water.

From experience I would say this is not a good move. I'm pretty sure most of Burlington's water supply is treated lake water from lake Champlain. Maybe they should focus their efforts on developing better water treatment procedures, rather than banning plastic bottles and calling themselves "green".

reply to post by jlssg4


Thank you for your post. It's always good to have a source of information directly connected to a story. I think your comment here will help illustrate that there should be a choice for the students.

reply to post by isyeye


I'm a student at UVM and I think that this ban is half-baked.

They are trying to force students to drink the nasty municipal water. I just bought a filter that removes fluoride along with other nasties in the water. I believe the university should do the same if it wishes to restrict access to bottled water.

I do think that HFCS should be banned though and I support eliminating products with HFCS on campus.

Otherwise, it's still a half-baked ban.

reply to post by isyeye


UVM already has a comprehensive recycling initiative in place.

Personally, I think a bottle deposit on water bottles would be more beneficial in the long run. NY state has one and I believe that's one way to cut back on waste from water bottles.

reply to post by Zippidee


I've heard that it is filtered but not to the extent needed to remove fluoride.

I just will not drink the water on campus.

reply to post by jlssg4


I have to agree on this. The water in the Waterman building is horrible. I will never touch it again.

It's funny because I am an ENVS major. I'm doing my part with the filter I bought so that I can reduce the waste that I create personally.

reply to post by isyeye

Oh, I thought each individual would have their own reusable bottle that would be theirs only!
2nd

I have tried to use those reusable water bottles. Yuck. I am very sensitive to "off" flavors, and they all start tasting like either soap or moldiness before too long. I hate the metal ones, too, as they taste metallic to me.

At home, I have one of those big water coolers and I drink out of a real glass. No funny taste there! But at work, it's bottled water for me.

I guess UVM can do whatever it wants, and if it is a huge deal, don't go to school there. But personally, if I wanted to drink water and I wasn't at home, I'd prefer bottled water.

As for the sodas, if they don't want corn syrup, they should contract with Coke to make them sodas with real sugar. They do that here for Passover ("Kosher Coke"), and Pepsi sells "Pepsi Throwback" with real sugar. I know sugar isn't great, either, but sometimes you just WANT a soda. I'd like to make my OWN bad choices, thank you.

reply to post by GeorgiaGirl


UVM does sell Mexican Coca-Cola on campus.

While soda is always going to be bad for us, best to buy soda without HFCS or Aspartame if you really want some. Everyone has their own vices.