Loyola University Chicago Ditches Bottled Water
Loyola University Chicago announced its plan to ban the sale of
bottled water on Thursday following a year-long student campaign.
(photo: Myrtle Beach TheDigitel)
“It is exciting to see the leadership and commitment from the
students on the topic of water,” said Aaron Durnbaugh, director of
sustainability at Loyola, the nation’s largest Jesuit, Catholic
university. “With our location on the banks of the greatest fresh water
resource in the world, our drinking water could be taken for granted,
but the students recognize its value and our responsibility to protect
and preserve this resource for all.”
The campaign, called Uncap Loyola,
was led by the Student Environmental Alliance (SEA), in partnership
with Loyola’s Unified Student Government Association (USGA), and
targeted bottled water as an environmental and social justice issue.
“We consider the sale of bottled water on campus in conflict with the
Jesuit tradition and Loyola’s mission ‘to be in service of humanity
through learning, justice and faith.’ We feel that safe and accessible
water is a fundamental human right and must not be handled in ways that
put profits over people,” SEA and USGA representatives said in a joint
statement.
The university will remove bottled water from dining service venues
and catering starting in the fall semesters, and will be phased out from
vending starting in 2013.
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