Wednesday, June 5, 2013

BOXED IS BETTER: One small step for Ban Bottled Water, One GIANT leap for Sustainability at Union!

An example of the Boxed Water, coming soon under a chair near you. 
The website starts with the line: "Part sustainable water company, part art project, part philanthropic project, and completely curious" and to be honest, so were we! Union College and USustain have collaborated and compromised on the bottled water issue under every chair at Commencement and helped us bring "Boxed Water" to our campus.

Now I bet we are all wondering, what is heck is this? Boxed water? The company agrees with with you. They feel that sustainability is an important cause and they want to give back to community as well. They started a company that provides sustainable packaging for water that has a lower carbon footprint than current plastic bottled water and with the profits they earn, they give back to foundations.

Now of course, many ask if this carton contains any plastic? The box itself comes from around 76% renewable resources and of course, trees. But it's okay! The trees are from certified, well managed forests that keep being healthy because the company donates 10% of their profits to reforestation foundations. Other materials come from the cap and the lining of the carton but the best part is it is ALL RECYCLABLE. The CO2 emissions per carton ins around .031 kg, which is about 1/7 the emissions for a 1 liter standard sized plastic bottle (around .223 kg).

This is a great replacement than the water bottles, helping the Ban Bottled Water group on campus take one step further to that ultimate goal!

All graphics were from boxedwaterisbetter.com. Any questions about the processes please refer to that site!
Any questions about Union's transition, please email Meghan Haley-Quigley at haleyqum@union.edu