Take Back the Tap at NYU

President Hamilton

Drinking water should be safe, accessible and affordable for all. Clean water is a basic human right and a public service, not a corporate commodity.

Tap water is a better choice than bottled water, for many reasons:

  • Bottled water is not safer than tap water. In fact, the federal government requires more rigorous and frequent safety testing and monitoring of municipal drinking water.
  • Bottled water is thousands of times more expensive than tap water. Compare $0.002 per gallon for most tap water to a range of $0.89 to $8.26 per gallon for bottled water.
  • Bottled water hurts the environment. After millions of barrels of oil are used to produce and ship plastic water bottles, 75% of them land in the garbage or our waterways instead of the recycle bin.

As members of the New York University community, we seek to reduce the use of bottled water on-campus. We are calling on New York University to invest in well-maintained water fill stations in all public spaces and provide reusable water bottles for students, faculty and staff, and end the sale of bottled water and other single use plastics on campus.

To: President Hamilton
From: [Your Name]

Here at New York University, we pride ourselves on our commitment to sustainability. We believe water should be safe, accessible and affordable for all; that water is a human right and basic public service, not a corporate commodity.

As the University is currently drafting a new Climate Action Plan, it is important for the plan to promote clean and accessible water on campus for all students. As members of New York University we are calling on you to:

-Invest in well-maintained water fill stations in public spaces on campus.
-Properly Educate the student body about the benefits of drinking tap water.
-Provide reusable water bottles for students, faculty, and staff.
-End the sale of single use plastic water bottles.

Thank you.