May 14, 2014
Every school in America has a water fountain, but thanks to one Westford Academy student, Westford’s high school students now have a water fountain that helps save the environment.
A crowd of faculty members and area residents were on hand to christen a new water bottle refilling station just outside of the Westford Academy gym on Wednesday, an initiative spearheaded by Westford Academy student Emily Wood.
Wood, who will be attending the University of Vermont in the fall, worked on the project while serving as an intern with Sustainable Westford in concert with the Because Water initiative.
During her statements at the station’s ribbon cutting ceremony, Wood said that the device not only helps the environment, but also is healthier for students than tap water or bottled water and is 1,000 times most cost effective than bottled water.
“It’s an amazing opportunity, not only for our school but our town, and I can’t wait to see it grow into something greater,” she said.
Even before the ribbon cutting, several dozen students and faculty members used the device, which has a display that showing how many bottles and gallons of water have been saved from one-use bottles.
It may be too soon to tell if the refilling station catches on with students, but Wood hopes that 50 percent of Westford Academy’s population will be using it regularly by the end of the school year.
“I’ve seen a great response already,” she said. “It’s only been open for a day and when I got here, students were already using it and saying it was so cool. I think after today, you’ll see a rise in water bottle use. “
More information on the initiative is available at the Sustainable Westford website.
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