We are petitioning to request the removal of single use plastic water bottles at IMS.  Current IMS students came from the elementary schools and had access only to milk and water.  Now they have easy access to 4-5 refill water stations, two of which sit in the commons area.  Many students have reusable water bottles on hand to refill as needed.  The Mercer Island School district is a certified green school; this status goes with the pledge that we as a community will reduce waste whenever and wherever possible.

According to Forbes magazine, 1,000,000 plastic bottles are purchased every minute.  Only 9 % of these ever get recycled.  The majority of un-recycled plastic bottles end up giving off methane gas in landfills, or in our oceans, which harms animals and pollutes our water.  

The decision makers in our community are sending our children very mixed messages; we tell them its important to reduce our waste, sort our trash, conserve energy and water, but in turn we rely on one of the world's largest contributors to ocean and land pollution as a source of funding.  Using water bottles as a source of revenue is a decision not based on sustainability- this needs to change.

Revenue that comes from water bottle sales can come from other sources.  We can come together to find solutions to this problem.  In our community we have an expanding group of parents and students in support of this change as they understand the impact it is making on our planet.

After speaking with the principal at IMS and the head of maintenance and operations, it turns out that the water bottles are also causing a huge problem with behavior and messes in the lunchroom.  Kids are buying 4-5 at a time to squirt water at friends, or bottle flip them up into the air, hoping to land them on light fixture or beam.

Our reliance on these water bottles as a source of revenue needs to be addressed, and I have a strong committee of parents ready to find the fix.  Whether we design and sell reusable stainless steel water bottles, tote bags or raise the price of snacks, we can work together find solutions. As leaders in this community, we have the opportunity to come out and make a statement with our actions that we care about the future of our planet.

Did you know that 90 college campuses in the US have banned or restricted the sales of plastic water bottles from there campuses?  This includes Harvard, Brown and Seattle University- let's be a part of this group of schools that have committed to eliminating plastic water bottles from our campus!

Please let us know when we can sit down to discuss this issue so we can help you find a solution.  Our recommendation is that single use water bottles are removed by the first day of school in the fall when we roll out the new lunchroom protocol for IMS.

We need to be out in front of this important lesson.  Selling single-use plastic water bottles instead of encouraging students to use the refill stations is a contradiction.  Our landfills are overflowing, the oceans are polluted beyond imagination with plastic- please help our community make the right decision in eliminating unneeded waste.