An early step in GVSU’s Making Waves Initiative should be the banning of any plastic bottled water at all university events.

The GVSU community consumes thousands of bottles of water each year.  At Convocation and other university events there are often pallets piled high with plastic bottles of water.

Americans use an average of 50 billion plastic water bottles each year with 90 percent of the bottles not recycled. Billions of plastic water bottles are deposited into landfills and our oceans.

If GVSU is serious about water education and conversation, we can all Move Forward by offering water from large containers to be dispensed in paper cups at all university events. The Making Waves Initiative may even wish to create a contest for student clubs and organizations to design the most aesthetic and functional portable water containers.  The savings to GVSU’s pocket book and our environment would be significant.

John Kilbourne is a professor of Movement Science at Grand Valley State University.