Reusable water-bottle initiative brings new era of environmental awareness

Upper School goes green with new plastic water-bottle ban

Reusable+water-bottle+initiative+brings+new+era+of+environmental+awareness

Indre Zalepuga, Staff Writer

Saint Stephen’s has several green initiatives, but this year we’ve taken a stronger stance on promoting environmental awareness by starting the school-wide reusable bottle program. The Upper School has banned one-time use water bottles except for in the lunch loggia, where the bottles must be recycled after lunch time.

“As a school, it’s our responsibility to educate [the student body] and we want to make sure that when students graduate, they’re aware of [their] choices and of the impact that those choices make not only on the environment, but on the future as well,” said Mrs. Allison Misiewicz, Upper School biology teacher and passionate, caring member of the green committee.

The new path of the green initiative stems from the Saint Stephen’s Board of Directors, which has formed a green committee made up of environmentally-conscious administrators, faculty, and parents.

One of the first initiatives of the year was to reflect on water-bottle consumption. For the first month of school, every water bottle thrown away or recycled was collected in the Upper School. The bottles were counted for the first Falcon Friend event, and the results showed that the Upper School is the largest consumer of one-time use plastic water bottles, totaling about 90% of the entire school.

Mr. Andrew Forrester, Upper School director said that banning single-use water bottles is a fantastic idea.

“The plastic that is wasted in the Upper School can easily be avoided by the use of reusable water bottles and we provided the students with refillable water bottles at the Falcon Friend event,” he said.

Misiewicz said that drawing attention to bottle consumption is really important, as Florida is a coastal state.

“Those plastics find their way really quickly into our bayou, the Gulf of Mexico, or Tampa Bay, which can endanger marine life and eventually end up in the garbage patches,” Misiewicz said. “We’ve been recycling for years, including materials like aluminum, paper, and plastics.”

Misiewicz said she was fully aware that it would take some time to become accustomed to the new rule.

“Behavior change is hard, but not impossible,” Misiewicz added. “I knew there would be a lot of grumbling and questions that would arise and that’s fine. It’s okay to have concerns when changes are made. It just takes a little bit of time.”

Informing the students and parents regarding the reasons for these changes is very important, so in all divisions, students will be shown videos and announcements.

“[The new ban] is reducing waste at the Upper School and it’s raising awareness of not simply being a throw-away society, but being a society that cares for the environment,” Forrester said.

Senior Kassandra Woodruff, a prominent member of the Green Club, said that since everyone in the Saint Stephen’s community was given a reusable water bottle, students shouldn’t have an excuse to be carrying around plastic bottles.

“I would like to see better enforcement of the rule because I still see tons of people walking around without reusable bottles and that shouldn’t be allowed. We’re also trying to get water bottle filling stations at the water fountains,” Woodruff said.

There is already one of these stations installed in the Middle School, much to the enjoyment of students and faculty.

“It’s really important to encourage environmental sustainability and environmental stewardship, so that the students are more responsible world citizens,” Misiewicz said.