Everything Under The Sun: Campus Campaign to Change Behaviors

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Campus Campaign to Change Behaviors

Raising awareness of discarded plastic bottles through art.

Bottles, bottles, everywhere! It seems that the issue of disposable bottles, in which water, soft drinks, juices are packaged is an issue even outside the continental US. So, it's no surprise that campaigns pop up that are willing to deal with the issue. That is the case on the island of Puerto Rico, a territory of the US.

In 2010, students at the UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO RIO PIEDRAS started their own campaign, NO MAS BOTELLAS, within the student organization, Eco-Environmental Society. Amira Odeh, a student, was concerned about the number of plastic bottles discarded everywhere, in university gardens, on the floors of classrooms, and in bathrooms. That led to students exploring exactly how many students used bottled water and the subsequent environmental impact. Students then started a campaign to improve the campus water fountains and to educate fellow students on the hazards of bottled water. From that beginning, the campaign moved forward to seeking to remove bottled water entirely from the campus.

According to Amira, "This project is important because bottled water consumption is part of releasing CO2 into the atmosphere, using too much water resources, and privatizing water in communities. All these problems can cause serious issues in an island whose territory depends on sea level rise and on using the limited resources available in a smaller area of land. I decided to approach this issue by starting with education at the university because the student community is usually more open to engage in environmental conservation issues than other areas in the island. By succeeding with this project at the university, there would be a community of 15,000 people in Puerto Rico that know about this problem and there will also be a bigger quantity of people interested in solving it."

One of the new campus water fountains, even reinforces students by counting bottles eliminated.

Since the campaign began, it has expanded around the original campus and into other institutions around Puerto Rico. Remember those drinking fountains that the students targeted? There are new ones all around the campus. The campaign has sparked the development of leadership events and all of the products sold on campus are in reusable bottles. The campaign is now entering the final stages of their effort to reduce the sale and consumption of bottled water on the Rio Piedras campus. The campaign is continuing its educational events for its own students and interested groups outside its university walls.