The effort to stop the sale of bottled water on campus advanced a step when a Sustainability Committee representative met with Chancellor Robert Coombe to discuss the measure last quarter. 

USG senator and Sustainability Committee member Dillon Doyle initiated the meeting with Coombe.

“I was encouraged by our conversation,” said Doyle. The proposal is moving into its next steps, but there are still many details to work out, he said.

In November a petition for the proposal collected 500 signatures from students in five days. 

The petition called for the end of giving out bottled water for marketing purposes, stopping the sale of bottled water on campus except for sporting events, improving public drinking facilities and educating the campus on the harms of bottled water.

Doyle is still hoping to get statistics on how many bottles of water are sold on campus in a year. 

Though he sees a lot of support from administration for the proposal, there are some reservations from administrators about putting the measure into place, said Doyle.

“Some administrators question the feasibility of implementing the proposal,” he said.

The response the Sustainability Committee has gotten from Sodexo in this and other efforts has been good, said Doyle, though stopping the sale of all bottled water may be far in the future for the dining services provider. 

“In terms of completely stopping, I’m not sure if they’re ready for that yet,” he said.