It's such a tingle to see Greenies running about with plastic water bottles but no-one listens to them after that bottle is spotted. (Phys.org: Students seek to ban plastic water bottles from campus)
Credit: Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications
Zero waste by 2020—that's one of the goals of the UC Office of the President's Sustainability Practices Policy for all UC campuses. Several students at UC San Diego's Student Sustainability Collective (SSC) are working to make that a reality.
Michael Mnatsakanian, a fifth-year chemical engineering major, minoring in environmental studies, is helping to direct SSC's All Campus Plastic Water Bottle Ban at UC San Diego. He and other students believe that completely eliminating the sale of disposable plastic water bottles on campus is the only way to achieve zero waste by 2020.
"We want to ban the sale of plastic water bottles because plastic is the No. 1 threat to marine ecosystems," said Mnatsakanian. "Bottled water plants negatively affect surrounding communities, and annual purchases of bottled water are 2000 times more expensive than using tap water. On top of that, tap water has significantly lower rates of potentially damaging substances."
- PO
Ed: the bottles get recycled!
Some of them do and the rest end up floating in the Pacific ... fucking forever.
These Greenies are on the move.
It's not just a campus initiative either. The All Campuses Plastic Water Bottle Ban campaign plans to implement lasting policy not only at UC San Diego, but all UC campuses.
"Thanks to years of working with campus administration, UC San Diego Plastic Water Bottle Ban campaign leaders now have the expertise to teach student environmentalists at other campuses how to implement changes," said Mnatsakanian.
One of the places they are doing that is at Powershift, a conference for advocacy in social justice. During this year's event, Mnatsakanian directed Student Sustainability Collective leaders from campuses around the country about bypassing initiatives and aiming straight for policy changes.
- PO
They don't parade; they do.
Credit: Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications
Zero waste by 2020—that's one of the goals of the UC Office of the President's Sustainability Practices Policy for all UC campuses. Several students at UC San Diego's Student Sustainability Collective (SSC) are working to make that a reality.
Michael Mnatsakanian, a fifth-year chemical engineering major, minoring in environmental studies, is helping to direct SSC's All Campus Plastic Water Bottle Ban at UC San Diego. He and other students believe that completely eliminating the sale of disposable plastic water bottles on campus is the only way to achieve zero waste by 2020.
"We want to ban the sale of plastic water bottles because plastic is the No. 1 threat to marine ecosystems," said Mnatsakanian. "Bottled water plants negatively affect surrounding communities, and annual purchases of bottled water are 2000 times more expensive than using tap water. On top of that, tap water has significantly lower rates of potentially damaging substances."
- PO
Ed: the bottles get recycled!
Some of them do and the rest end up floating in the Pacific ... fucking forever.
These Greenies are on the move.
It's not just a campus initiative either. The All Campuses Plastic Water Bottle Ban campaign plans to implement lasting policy not only at UC San Diego, but all UC campuses.
"Thanks to years of working with campus administration, UC San Diego Plastic Water Bottle Ban campaign leaders now have the expertise to teach student environmentalists at other campuses how to implement changes," said Mnatsakanian.
One of the places they are doing that is at Powershift, a conference for advocacy in social justice. During this year's event, Mnatsakanian directed Student Sustainability Collective leaders from campuses around the country about bypassing initiatives and aiming straight for policy changes.
- PO
They don't parade; they do.
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