Our Crowdfunding Groups
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Water is necessary for human life; however, corporations see it as a source of profit. Bottled water is simply municipal drinking water bottled up and sold back to us at thousands of times its original price, creating astronomical pollution in the process. The oil burned to manufacture single-use plastic water bottles hugely contributes to climate change, and producing a plastic bottle uses more water than what actually ends up inside of it.
Unfortunately, bottled water is coming at the expense of our public water infrastructure, something communities have relied on for affordable and convenient access to water for over a hundred years. We should not have to rely on corporations for this necessary human resource, and access to clean water should not be limited by one's financial situation. Finally, after production, only about 1 in 3 plastic bottles get recycled. The rest go into our landfills and oceans, which has had devastating effects on groundwater and marine life.
It is about time we Take Back the Tap!
Our slogan is "Refills, not landfills!" Instead of purchasing bottled water, you can refill a reusable water bottle at a Hydration Station. This Fall, Pitt Take Back the Tap successfully worked with the Department of Housing and Panther Central to distribute reusable water bottles to all students upon move-in.
Take Back the Tap is a national campaign run by the nonprofit Food and Water Watch. The goal of this campaign is to eliminate the sale of bottled water on college campuses as well as protect safe, accessible, clean water both here in the U.S. and around the world.
Although support for the campaign has existed for years on Pitt's campus, the current chapter of Take Back the Tap just became an officially recognized club in the Spring of 2016. Now, our dedicated team works toward its goal with fundraising, advocacy, and education!
It is common courtesy to provide water at campus events. The purpose of this fundraiser is to purchase a Mobile Hydration Station. This is a water refilling station that could be used at events on campus. That way, organizations do not need to buy a large amount of bottled water to hand out.
This will help make all Pitt events a bit more sustainable while saving our organizations money. It is a win-win situation!
The cost of this unit is $1,500 but we are hoping to exceed our goal. If this is the case, we will use any extra money towards other general club expenses, such as installing more regular Hydration Stations in academic buildings!
Take Back the Tap meets every Wednesday at 5 PM in 510 William Pitt Union. New members are always welcome! Also, feel free to email pitt.takebackthetap@gmail.com for more information. If you are not affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh, but would still like to get involved, visit Food and Water Watch's website to learn more.
If we do not meet our fundraising goal, donations will go towards general club expenses.
This one hits close to home. Your donation is really helping the community.
What a great donation! It's unlakely that anyone would donate more!
