Nalgene bottles to bring discounts

The Residence Halls Association and Council for Environmental Stewardship have teamed up to bring students another way to conserve waste. \nAfter the holiday break, the organizations will be selling green Nalgene bottles with the "I give a sh*t" logo in hopes that students will refill them in campus dining areas, as well as at Dagwood's and all Bloomington McDonald's locations, which are also participating in the project. \nIf the 500 bottles that the groups initially ordered are sold and used appropriately, they will cut paper cup usage per day by at least 250 cups, said Andrea Webster, RHA's director of environmentalism and co-creator of the program. Students will also benefit because they will receive discounts on water, sodas and iced tea at the participating vendors when they use their bottles.\nRHA, CFES and the individual residence halls pooled their funds to cover the project's $1,500 upfront cost, Webster said. They've set the cost at $2 per bottle for students who live in the residence centers and $3 for other students. Students will be offered the services only if they purchase these specific bottles, not use the ones they own already. Student organizations will be able to order them in larger numbers through the RHA Web site. All of the proceeds will go back into buying more bottles, Webster said.\n"We plan to continue this project into next year and the years to come, selling more bottles as we go, which will increase the amount of waste reduction," she said.\nWebster and CFES Coordinator Kassia Perpich have been working on the program since the summer, Webster said. After initial brainstorming, Webster sought Residential Programs and Services' approval, then went to the members of RHA's Presidents Council and Board of Environmental management to "refine" the program. \nThe students looked at many bottle prototypes and eventually selected the 28-ounce green Nalgene bottles because they are easy to refill and rinse, she said. The only concerns students had involved mixing the tastes of the different drinks and spreading germs when refilling the bottles.\nWebster said that Nalgene bottles do not retain tastes as long as they are rinsed with hot water between refills. She also said the organizations considered health concerns carefully, but came to the conclusion that "germs are transferred every day and this is not something that can be completely eliminated." The groups think germ contamination will be kept to a minimum since drink dispensers are cleaned regularly at all of the vendors.\nWebster originally hoped to sell the bottles immediately after Thanksgiving break, but problems with shipping forced her to push the commencement of sales to the second week of the spring semester. RHA will be selling the bottles from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Gresham and Wright food courts. There will also be stands at Eigenmann Hall and Read and Collins Living-Learning centers, she said.\nWhen RHA President Owen Sutkowski presented the program at a meeting of the Dean's Advisory Board, an organization composed of the presidents of most campus student organizations and other student leaders seemed interested in buying the bottles. He said he went to the meeting with 25 to 30 forms about the program and left the meeting empty-handed.