Reuse & Refill!

Last summer, twenty-seven water bottle refill stations were installed in academic buildings and residence halls campus-wide. A counter on each fountain adds up the total number of refills. Since installation, CC’s 27 stations have logged 296,000 refills! The hydration stations cut waste associated with single-use plastics and provide a cheap, equitable, environmentally sound alternative to bottled water.

This news comes at a time when waste reduction is in full swing at Colorado College. We’re entering our 5th year of participation in RecycleMania, a national competition and benchmarking tool for colleges and universities to promote waste reduction on campuses. CC has robust recycling and composting programs, and now we’re focusing on waste minimization.

In recent years, the Sustainability Office, EnAct and Bon Appétit have worked to supply the campus with reusable water bottles, mugs, bags, untensils and to-go containers to encourage the community to reuse items rather than adding material to the waste or recycling streams.

Next Tuesday, March 6th, we’ll take a close look at what materials are being tossed. At lunchtime on the Worner Quad, students will audit Trash Peak, a massive pile of waste that CC generates in a day. Come see what we find!