ENGR 097S, Sustainable State
Water Bottle Exercise
In No Impact Man, Colin Beavan and his family reduce their waste in a lot of ways, including
carrying and using their own reusable bottles. Colin actually carries around an old peanut
butter jar.
Your assignment is:
1. For a three-day period, use a refillable bottle for water, or drink water from the water
coolers.
2. You can drink other beverages if you want, but the beverage source must be a refillable
container or fountain, e.g., soda, coffee, milk (lie in the dining commons). And your
container must be a reusable container, like a travel mug, or a cup, or a glass. The whole
idea is to eliminate your use of disposable containers for beverages.
3. As you go through these three days make notes about how this affected you. At the end
of the period, write a one-page (one side, double-spaced, 10-pt, 0.50” margins)
reflection paper about your experiences. Think about these questions to guide your
reflection:
 What were your feelings and attitudes about the exercise prior to doing it?
Afterward?
 What did you give up and how did it feel?
 In what, if any, ways do you think you benefitted? Did you save any money?
 In what, if any, ways was your life less good?
 What roles can engineers play in reducing waste?
Bring a copy of the paper to class on Wednesday, 10/22. No late papers will be accepted.
OPTION for those who already do what is asked here:
Reduce your waste in some other way such as no fast food, no newspaper in print form, etc.