Jennifer Passler, an English 11 and World Literature teacher is taking a huge step in the eco friendly world.

After viewing the Atlas documentary, “Tapped”, on the truth of bottled water, Passler was amazed by the amount of damage this form of beverage could do to the earth. After doing more research on the matter, Passler uncovered more on the matter then she could have ever thought.
“If you look at big named bottled water companies like Nestle, you learn that are a big reason toward to the damage of our country,” said Passler.

Passler dug deeper in to the matter, only to find that “Big Name” bottled water companies contribute to harming the planet by purchasing large portions of land in the east and building factories in small towns. Once building their factories near bodies of fresh water, the companies have the right to take as much fresh, clean water out of the lakes and oceans to fill their water bottles.

Once the bottles are filled, shipped out, and used, they are thrown away into the trash. Plastic water bottles are unable to be recycled if the cap is still on the bottle or the bottle is still filled with liquid.

“I can’t tell you how many half filled water bottles I find left in my room at the end of the day,” Passler says. “I don’t know if they refill it with the bubbler, but still I have to go and empty them in order to recycle them.”

The companies don’t allow taking the time out of the day to unscrew the caps American’s forget to take off, so the bottles are tossed into the regular trash.

Once in the regular trash, they are dumped into landfills and the ocean. According to KTVU.com there are large piles of trash floating on top the ocean’s surface in Santa Cruz. These piles are made up of 50% water bottles. According to Penn State University it takes 450 years for a single plastic bottle to decompose.

With all the damage these bottles are doing, Passler has a plan to help decrease the problem.
“I’m considering not allowing any of my students to bring them into my class room. They can only have reusable water bottles,” Passler explains.

By starting this act Passler hopes to eliminate the amount of plastic water bottles in the school and increase the number of reusable ones.

“I’m hoping this will start a pandemic,” Passler says. “I figure the next thing is Gatorade and Soda in eco friendly containers. “

Passler also plans on showing the “Tapped” documentary to all of her classes before the semester ends to help promote her mission.