REGINA – In a world of consumption, some University of Regina students are focused on sustainability.
Around 200,000 plastic water bottles are sold every year on campus and the trouble is not all of them make it into a recycling bin.
As part of a class project, a group of four marketing students researched ways to reduce plastic bottled water on campus by coming up with more environmentally-friendly options.
One of the group members, Jordan Peto, said that stacked up to other institutions across Canada, the U of R is actually doing quite well when it comes to recycling bottles and reducing the numbers bought from vending machines.
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“Still, anything the U of R can do to see itself as a leader to help in that respect, can go a long way,” he added.
One recommendation from the research was to provide reusable water bottles to new students, or make them more accessible and affordable to all students.
Another group member, Eric Flaman, said the option that received the most support from students surveyed was installing more filtered water stations on campus.
“I think taste is a big factor when we looked at it. Students of course are very cost conscious and don’t want to spend a lot of money on bottled water for sure,” he said. “There are also the students who do really care about the environment.”
Sustainability is already a priority at the university, but according to Carol Reyda, U of R sustainability coordinator, the recommendations will be looked at and some could be adopted into the campus’ five year strategic plan.
“They are definitely some good ideas. One that was very creative was boxed water. I had never seen that before, where the box is more sustainable then the plastic.”
The final option was that the university launch an awareness campaign for students to encourage students to recycle and learn about other options available aside from plastic bottled water.
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