Free water bottles given for pledges to reduce waste

Hundreds of campus community members have pledged to conserve water and reduce waste as part of a new campaign by the Sustainability Office.

And they are getting environmentally friendly, reusable water bottles in return.

The bottles, which feature a green Tar Heel logo symbolizing the new Carolina Green initiative, have been given to students since the beginning of school in exchange for a pledge to help the environment.

Of the 4,000 that were originally ordered for the program, 650 have already been distributed.

“If you look at social marketing and behavioral change research, if people say in writing that they will so something, they are more likely to do it,” said Cindy Shea, director of the Sustainability Office.

Students write pledges on postcards along with the their addresses. The postcards will be mailed back to the students in January to remind them of their vow.

“We want new students, especially transfer students, to know that they’re at UNC and expected to adapt sustainable behavior,” she said.

The water bottle campaign was developed last semester by the Sustainability Office, student government’s environmental affairs committee and the UNC Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling.

The Sustainability Office developed the Carolina Green campaign to drive traffic to their new Web site, which is a directory of sustainable programs and activities.

“We’re really trying to promote Carolina Green as a one-stop portal for anything to do with sustainability so that students can just go on one Web site instead of seven different ones,” said Brian Cain, research and outreach manager at the Sustainability Office.

To receive a bottle, students must come up with ways to reduce waste, including reducing shower time, using reusable water bottles and cutting down on paper use.

“I’m overwhelmed with the success,” Cain said about the office’s first two events. “We actually ran out of bottles in three hours.”

But some question whether the program actually benefits the environment.

“I feel like for a lot of people, it’s just the free water bottle,” said sophomore Drew Simel. “After considering the people around the world that live off around a dollar a day, I’ve realized that I don’t need to use that much energy for my daily activities.”

Student government’s environmental affairs committee has taken an active interest in the campaign.

“When you sign a sustainability pledge, it’s really up to the individual to whether or not they follow through,” said Elinor Benami, former committee chairwoman and one of the project’s organizers.


Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.