CU considers a plastic bottle ban

CU wants students to use reusable water bottles like this one | DailyCamera.com

CU wants students to use reusable water bottles like this one | DailyCamera.com

The University of Colorado is considering a ban on disposable plastic bottles as part of an effort to become a greener campus.

Students would be encouarged to fill up their reusable water bottles at “hydration stations” around campus.

But there’s a hitch to the plan.

From the Daily Camera:

One problem, though, is the university doesn’t want to take money away from a fund — supported with vending machine revenue — that awards scholarship money to the children of faculty and staff members.

At first, CU leaders were looking at ridding the campus of just plastic water bottles, said Deb Coffin, associate vice chancellor and dean of students. But, she said, they worried about unintended consequences — such as students opting instead for more bottled sodas.

“We’d like to not have plastic bottles at all,” Coffin said. …

The campus brings in about $280,000 a year from the money that people spend on snacks and soda sold at campus vending machines, officials said last fall. Part of that revenue goes to a scholarship program in which full-time CU employees can receive $750 for their dependents one semester every year.

Read the full story at DailyCamera.com.