The hydration station installation project meets a number of funding and institutional sustainability goals, including those of the Carbon Fund, the UCOP Healthy Beverage Initiative, the UC Sustainable Practices Policy, and the 2017-22 Campus Sustainability Plan.

HBI began at UCSF, and successfully reduced the consumption of SSB and improved the overall health of the volunteers participating in the study. Forbes magazine congratulated UCSF on this accomplishment. In total, nine UC campuses, including UCSC, have signed onto the HBI.

The project aligns with UC Sustainable Practices Policy Zero Waste goal to “phase out the procurement, sale and distribution of single-use plastic beverage bottles” (Section F. 4. e.). Similarly, it is supported by UCSC’s Campus Sustainability Plan Materials Management and Food System (MMFS) strategy 1.5 & 2.5 language, by which UC Santa Cruz aims to reduce the use of single-use plastics on campus, including beverage bottles.

The project goal is to increase water bottle fill stations (also known as hydration stations) on our campus in strategic locations (i.e. water deserts where there is no or old/unsightly water infrastructure). With increased access to hydration stations and education around the benefits of drinking tap water, students will be more inclined to drink tap water than SSBs. We believe increasing access to hydration stations will not only improve the health of students on campus but also reduce the demand for on-campus single-use plastic beverage bottles.

This project and the larger hydration station installation effort is also a crucial piece of moving towards a plastic-free campus. Last year, as part of the Beverage and Pouring Rights contract bidding process, Kristen Lee (Sustainability Programs Manager, Sustainability Office, UC Santa Cruz) conducted a best practices analysis to understand barriers to UC Santa Cruz going plastic-free in our vending contract. After speaking with a number of leaders in the higher education field, Kristen found that it was crucial to significantly increase hydration station infrastructure before we simply eliminate single-use plastic bottles, because of water deserts and student access to hydration. After comparing UC Santa Cruz to other campuses of a similar size who have moved away from plastic bottles, it is clear that without significantly increasing campus hydration station infrastructure, we cannot wholesale remove plastic beverage bottles. It is estimated the campus will need to increase the number of goosenecks & hydration stations by at least 50 to provide satisfactory hydration accommodations for the campus community. Every last station is key to the success of the larger push to move away from plastics!

Gooseneck hydration stations provide users with convenient drinking water without the need for disposable plastic bottles. The units encourage healthy hydration habits as well as promote sustainability. There are innumerable benefits to installation, including:
Students save money: The cost of disposable, single-serve beverages adds up fast - hydration stations help reduce or eliminate these costs.
Reduce plastics: bottle filling stations help reduce the number of disposable plastic bottles that end up in landfills or polluting our oceans.

Our project will supplement the newly installed locations that are funded through the $100,000 UCOP is investing in each campus. There will be educational material surrounding the station for students to understand why this station is here, a promotional campaign around the new locations and the HBI, and the benefits regarding drinking Healthy Beverages rather than SSBs. We aim to change the behaviors of students by expanding tap water access to students, and in turn, encouraging them to choose Healthy Beverages when given the option.

We understand that during COVID19, touchless bottle fill stations are key to giving Healthy Beverage access to students. We’ve proposed two budgets, both being as contactless as possible.