UL Buildings and Estates have successfully secured funding for new water fountains.<\/p>\n
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Elizabeth Gabbett of the UL Environmental Committee said it was \u201cfantastic news.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe proposed fountains are not cheap but in the long run they will cut down on demand for single-use bottled water.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This funding comes after much lobbying by students for better, more user-friendly water fountains.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Ms Gabbett said the UL Building and Estates team have \u201ccontinuously\u201d been trying to source the finance for this project. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n She said the fountains will give students \u201ca well-designed, clean water dispensing facility and count the number of fills which encourages people to be environmentally aware.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Back in 2016, UL Environmental Society built a \u2018water bottle collector\u2019 to indicate how much students use plastic water bottles to only then throw them away.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n This drew attention to how much plastic was being wasted on a weekly basis in UL.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n President of UL Environmental Society, Christopher Asmus, said it was one of the hallmarks of the society that they were able to influence the installation of water fountains across campus.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Asmus added that \u2018it’s often hard for individuals, not just students, to see the real impacts of this kind of waste. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMost people don’t care as they can’t see it,\u201d he said, explaining that much of the waste goes to so-called third world countries. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSome of the oceans in Central America, like El Salvador\u2026 \u00a0there is a floating dump, but no one cares because it’s out of sight, out of mind.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mr Asmus said he hopes that projects like this will raise awareness to the point that \u201cwe no longer have to raise awareness!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe’re a long way from getting there, but it would be great to see people even care just a little bit more about the environment than they do now.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n