HKUST is plastic water bottle-free
Have you seen any bottled water in our school lately?
Well, HKUST has proudly phased out sale of plastic bottled water under 1 Litre on campus from 22 March 2018.
Our fish and sea turtles shall thank for our effort in reducing plastic waste! Speaking of marine animals, have you seen the beautiful plastic Whale skeleton in atrium or outside Starbucks. It is a hard-hitting message brought to you by designers from &dear that big mammals far in deep ocean are falling victim to our unconscious plastic consumption. A recent footage showed a mother whale carried her calf in her mouth who died from plastic ingestion (BBC Blue Planet II). It is hard for us to control what others dump into the ocean but we can control our own habits to reduce the source of these small invisible micro-plastic killers.
To celebrate World Water Day on 22 March and focus on the precious resources of water, three NGOs and social enterprises including Urban Spring, Go Cup, Water For Free were invited to join us at HKUST. Free drinks of fruit and flower tea were offered to let students and staff refill their cups for enjoyment.
Urban Spring tackles use of plastic bottles by providing a chic looking water dispenser Well# that visualizes the amount of bottles you have saved with interactive display panels and user-friendly features. We care, we carry! And it’s cool to get water from Well#! And there are already two WELL# at HKUST outside LTJ concourse and IAS Ground Floor lobby.
Go Cup on the other hand aims at reducing one-off coffee and tea cups consumption from local restaurants by giving out sturdy coffee cup with user-friendly design. They generously gave out their cups as prizes for their quizzes! Okay, which city has stamped out plastic bottle? A. San Francisco B. Taipei C. Hong Kong D. Berlin (Answer below!)
Water For Free develops a mobile app to display all free water fountains and restaurants that provide free water in Hong Kong to make sure you have full access to it, to save plastic bottles at your fingertips.
Ocean Science Department is committed to developing a comprehensive ocean science research and educational program. With the size of human population and the demand of natural resources continuing to rise, ocean will become the most important source of food, material and energy to sustain the future of mankind. H
Our social media campaign has successfully attracted students to take some creative pictures with the whale display so as to win the most creative award! Here are some photos that really made us laugh!
Although the event only lasted a day, HKUST’s effort to create a sustainable campus will continue to reach out to every part of the school. If you have any thought about ways to reduce plastic disposables, share with us at green@ust.hk !
