Concerned about the millions of plastic bottles discarded every day in Mexico, ITAM students, working through the Verde ITAM student organization, proposed in April a project in support of ecology and the human right to water. The project was approved by and carried out jointly with the university administration.
Currently, ITAM has five-gallon drinking water bottles available throughout the campus. However, sometimes these cannot provide enough water to the ITAM community because of high demand. In addition, the use of the plastic bottles poses a high ecological impact:
“21.3 million PET bottles are discarded every day in Mexico. That is why our country ranks first in consumption of bottled water, higher than countries such as Nigeria. In addition, in Mexico only 15 percent of the bottles are recycled, so imagine where the other 18 million bottles end up every day.” Verde ITAM, El Supuesto, Internas.
ITAM, responding to many requests, decided to install a drinking fountain in the Plaza Roja, which will be ready for use beginning in the fall semester of 2015 and will be free to the community. It is important to stress that for now the drinking fountain will not replace the large water bottles, but it will be a first step to improve the supply of potable water at the institute. The response by the university community will be an indicator to consider the installation of more drinking fountains. This is progress regarding respect for the right to access to water.
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http://blog.elsupuesto.com/internas/2015/04/garantiza-el-itam-el-derecho-humano-al-agua/