JT Kelly, Skyler LaFemina
11/9/15
Environment and Politics, Fall
Sustainability Project
Pitch a Project
Take Back The Tap is an extension of nationwide movement to decrease dependency on
bottled water by promoting the use of tap water, refillable water bottles and expanding the
number of free and clean sources. This will be achieved by installing refillable water bottle
stations manufactured by Elkay, an American-owned and operated company who leads the
drinking fountain industry. Our vision is to improve the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus,
Troy schools and downtown Troy with this sophisticated technology, but to initially test the
concept, a single unit will be installed on the RPI campus. After gaining insight and gauging the
success of the first station, the program seeks to install more stations throughout RPI and the
other two locations.
At the core of this project is its purpose which includes reducing plastic water bottle
waste, decreasing carbon emissions associated with plastic water bottle production and
distribution, and reducing the cost of water for citizens, students and faculty. A unique factor of
this project is that one of its largest appeals is the potential economic savings. People who chose
to utilize the stations via refillable water bottles as opposed to purchasing costly bottled water
will save an average of $177 a year on water. With the incentive of making the city of Troy and
our planet a cleaner and more sustainable place, it is a luxury to be able to save money while
introducing such large environmental benefits. This particular project is considered a priority not
only for its environmental advantages but for its role in servicing people with cheaper water
without sacrificing taste, quality or safety. RPI and Troy purchases about 9.5 million plastic
water bottles each year and wastes an average of 1.6 million bottles, all of which take
approximately 10,000 years to biodegrade. It takes nearly 3,300 barrels of oil to produce this
amount of plastic bottles and results in 477 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. If every
citizen, student and faculty member replaced plastic water bottles with tap water sources, such
plastic waste and carbon emissions would be completely eliminated and a total of $10 million
would be saved as bottled sources are typically 200 times more expensive than tap sources.
A major advantage of this project is its proven practicality and effectiveness as it has
already been implemented at several colleges, schools, businesses and public places nationwide.
With several universities taking steps to mitigate their carbon footprints, RPI is primed to take its
own steps and change the world with its own refillable water bottle program. Although the
concept of the project is straightforward, there are multiple stakeholders involved and each one
must be analysed and taken into consideration. While water bottle producers will not have a
favorable view, Troy city council, RPI, students, citizens, environmental organizations,
consumers, businesses and especially Elkay are all believed to favor the project. Plumbers,
custodians and Troy’s Public Utilities Department will also play a pivotal role in the project by
installing the units properly and ensuring the safety and regularly inspecting the units.
Fundamentally the project requires few resources, namely the refillable water bottle
station technology, a source of funding and people to carry out each phase of the project. as
stated earlier, the bottle stations will be ordered from Elkay, who provides models, chillers and
filters. As for funding, several environmental organizations offer grants and have funded similar
projects. These include the Local Government Efficiency Grant Program, Environmental
Education Grants and the Green Innovation Grant Program. Applying for one of these grants or
approaching either Troy’s City Council or RPI are all reasonable ways to fully finance the
project. We plan on creating a small team of supervisors who will mandate operations and will
abridge communication between various groups involved with the project, such as those
involved with keeping financial records and those installing the units.
Since the proposal deals with public drinking water and public facilities, all state and
federal regulations will be carefully followed. All of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Regulations, New York State and Federal Water Quality Regulations, as well as New York State
Building Codes will be abided by. Simplifying this process, many of the proposed installations
will be rectifications of pre-existing Elkay drinking fountains located throughout RPI, Troy
schools and Tory buildings, meaning that several regulations will already be met for these types
of instalments. Utilizing drinking fountains will also reduce the overall cost of the project as
retrofitting kits are cheaper than models that include both drinking fountains and water bottle
stations, and significantly less alterations to buildings will be needed.
Some restrictions include the source of funding, organizing an effective group of
supervision and leadership, and overcoming location limitations. However, since most colleges
and schools that implemented refillable water bottle stations were offered grants or funding from
environmental groups or initiative funds, we do not view this as a major challenge. Organizing
expertise will involve consulting with multiple sustainability organizations, environmental
groups, supervisors of previous projects and people involved in current green initiatives.
Plumbers and professionals will assess each proposed location for its capacity for the necessary
space and equipment needed for the stations. Although most locations will simply involve
retrofitting drinking fountains and will therefore meet the requirements, other locations that do
not will be replaced with sites that do.
The realization of this project proposal will bring immediate environmental benefits and
economic savings that will only increase over time. Additionally and most importantly, this
project promotes sustainability and increases the awareness of environmental concerns while
improving the overall quality of the RPI campus, Troy schools and the city of Troy.