Three elementary schools in Mesa are participating in a plastic waste reduction initiative that aims to keep millions of plastic water bottles out of the waste stream.
The “Rethink. Refill.” project was created by an international nonprofit called Plastic Oceans.
Mesa’s Redbird, Crismon and Washington elementary schools are among the first to participate, as well as two schools in Mexico.
Water bottle refilling stations have been installed in the schools, and students are provided with their own reusable stainless steel containers.
“You need somebody engaged at the school to say, ‘Yeah, we do want it in the school, we’ll work with you, we’ll find the union members, the service people who will help with the installation,'” said Julie Andersen, the organization's executive director.
Plastic Oceans works closely with the science department at Arizona State University and already has plans to bring four additional Arizona schools into the mix this year.
