In an effort to promote the use of reusable water bottles, senior Olivia Tataseo rallied for hydration stations to be installed on campus. With donations from various companies like Clorox, 2 hydration stations were eventually constructed in the office hall of the A wing and in the lower G hall.

The hydration stations each provide filtered water through a drinking fountain and a down spout.

According to Tataseo, Biology and AP Environmental Science teacher Tren Kauzer inspired her to pursue the project. “Mr. Kauzer was the one who got me thinking more about the environment through his class, AP Environmental Science. He put me in touch with the leader of GSE,” said Tataseo. The Global Student Embassy helped her financially, as well as the administration, which secured the approval from the district.

Tataseo explained, “It was great to see something that I’ve been hoping to happen actually go through and get achieved and I’m really excited that we can reduce plastic water bottle use and have clean, cold water on campus.”

“When I first walked on campus here, I noticed that there was a big usage of plastic water bottles, which, where I come from, we’re attempting to stop,” said assistant principal Erin Pope. “We had a lot of trouble getting hydration stations at my last school. Olivia was the one who approached me about it.”

“Olivia and I walked through and determined possible sites based on how many people foot-traffic so we figured one in the A hall was a prime location. We have a lot of people coming through the quad in and out all the time. It’s good for the public when they’re coming to the front office to see that we have this as well,” explained Pope.

“Student athletes can use the station in lower G. So, for boy’s and girl’s tennis it’s right there,” stated Principal John Walker, “One of the key reasons I’m excited about them is that hopefully students won’t use as many plastic water bottles, and also it’s good to drink a lot of water during school.”

“It promotes people to bring their own water bottles and it’s a way for people to have clean, filtered and cold water on campus,” said Tataseo.

To publicize the new hydration stations, red Camelbak water bottles with Campolindo logos were sold at $20 by the Leadership class on January 28 and 29.

“[The water bottles] support school spirit but they also support reusable water bottles which is really important because disposable water bottles are not good for our planet,” said sophomore Leadership student Rachel Brickman.

“A normal Camelbak is $16 so it’s not that much more expensive,” said Brickman, “I feel like it’s worth it because if you were to buy a case of disposable water bottles and keep disposing those, it’s gonna add up eventually but this you can use forever.”