Schools to receive bottle refilling stations to reduce plastic use

As part of an ongoing effort reduce plastic waste, six local schools will receive water bottle refilling stations through a Keep Louisiana Beautiful grant for $7,260.

Students from each selected school had surveyed Elmer's Island for marine debris — or trash that comes onto the beaches from the ocean — through the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program's initiative this year.

The students then proposed the idea for water bottle refilling stations and helped write the grant application.

"They saw how many bottles were being thrown in the garbage every day and knew this would make a powerful impact," said Alma Robichaux, the Thibodaux-based environmental agency's education and outreach coordinator, in a news release. "We expect to keep approximately 100,000 water bottles per year out of the landfill with these stations."

The stations will be installed at South Lafourche High School, E. D. White Catholic High School, South Terrebonne High School, Vandebilt Catholic High School, Thibodaux High School and Grand Isle High School.

By installing bottle refilling stations in well-trafficked areas of the school, the goal is to limit the number of single-use plastic water bottles tossed away.

Plastic items like water bottles that are meant to be used once before going in the trash are rapidly taking up more space in local landfills. In 2017, about 35.4 million tons of plastics were created in the the United States, making up 13.2% of waste, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

"Plastic waste is a rapidly growing segment of our human waste stream," said Susan Testroet-Bergeron, the director of the Barataria-Terrebonne program. "These new water bottle refilling stations will encourage students to refill their own containers and hopefully help to reduce the number of single-use plastics. These types of projects also raise awareness about the value of clean water and the need to protect our drinking water here in the estuary."

The stations are expected to arrive in January and each school will install them.

Once the stations are installed, the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program will track their counters to measure how effectively they're reducing waste.

Robichaux said they hope to bring the refill stations to other schools but need sponsors to put up about $1,000 for each one.

For more information about the program, or how you can install a refilling station at your school, business or organization, contact Robichaux at 447-0868 or at alma@btnep.org.

--Staff Writer Halle Parker can be reached at hparker@houmatoday.com or 857-2204. Follow her on Twitter, @_thehalparker.

447-0868