COVID-19 regulations mean that drinking fountains on the Doane campus have been shut off (understandably). Without them, we do not have access to clean drinking water.

The Smith Hall Dorms need water bottle fillers on each floor to prevent the usage of plastic, non-reusable water bottles and the waste that they create.

COVID-19 does not mean that we cannot be ecofriendly.

Last year, and most years before this we were able to use reusable plastic or metal water bottles, fill them up at the drinking fountains around campus, and in our dorm halls. This year, however, we are unable to do that and now must invest in plastic water bottles which is a waste of many different resources. For us individually it may only be a waste of money, but for our environment, it is both a waste of plastic from the bottle itself and gas from the manufacturing of the bottle.

According to the Container Recycling Institute, in 2014 57.3 billion water bottles were sold in the US alone. Each one of those water bottles can take up to 1000 years to decompose and a large portion of those water bottles will end up in our world's oceans contributing to the already massive waste islands.

In order to prevent all of this waste from being created in the first place and the students of Doane from being forced to participate in the creation of this waste, the solution is simple. A water bottle filler needs to be installed on each floor of Smith Hall. However, ultimately it would be ideal to have water bottle fillers in every dorm across Doane's campus.