POULTNEY, Vt.—It might not be the biggest change to hit a campus that is among the best in the country when it comes to environmental sustainability actions, but Green Mountain College will eliminate bottled water sales on campus.
As of Aug. 15, bottled water will no longer be available on campus, the result of a campaign launched by a recent graduate student this past fall targeting the plastic bottles.
“We’re among the few colleges in the country to make an active effort to eliminate this type of waste,” said Kevin Coburn, director of communications at GMC. “These are the sorts of initiatives that are consistent with our environment arts mission and our culture of sustainability. It’s a natural move for us.”
Nationwide, the Earth Policy Institute points out that only about 14 percent of plastic bottles are recycled and it takes about 1.5 million barrels of oil per year to produce them.
GMC is regularly in the Top 10 of Sierra Magazine’s “Cool Schools” list that ranks the top environmental colleges and universities in the United States.
The move also puts Green Mountain College on a list of slightly more than 50 schools in the United States and Canada that have banned the sale of bottled water.