Support from the bans comes from an organization called Ban the Bottle, a non profit group which raises attention concerning the financial and environmental costs linked to using plastic bottles. The group claims that eight glasses of water a day costs everyone 49 cents annually, whereas consuming from plastic boxes costs $1,400 per year. Other messages are used to instruct patrons on the health risks. According to the Ban the Bottle online page, plastic bottles comprise antimony — a chemical that during low doses causes depression and dizziness — but that in large doses may also cause death. While Ban the Bottle highlights the health issues tied to PETs, the chemical compounds in plastic, their main goal is to advertise environmental sustainability.
Last September, the bottle battle made countrywide news when scholars at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota, protested in favor of water bottles on campus. The campus’s school Republicans protested to bring bottled water back, even handing out bottled water when their school management determined to rid the plastic boxes from the merchandising machines. Instead, the campus determined to set up 31 “hydration stations,” costing the institution $20,000. Their goal was to make it easier for students to refill their reusable bottles. Chairman of the Minnesota College Republicans, Ryan Lyk, released a press release to the clicking that said, “Just as the government aren’t ban plastic bottles in America, a school administration will not be ban the sale of plastic water bottles on their campus.
