Remember to bring your refillable container to any University Food Service retail location on campus for a discount on fountain beverages!

And water is FREE!
Filtered water is available from the fountain beverage dispenser in at all food service locations or from the new bottle fillings stations in the SUB. And good old fashioned tap water still flows from the many traditional drinking fountains located across campus.

News

• 11/2011 - The Hoseaus Fitness Center now has bottle fillers. TBTT bottles can be purchased at the equipment check out room.
• 10/20/2011 - MSU goes green with eco-friendly water bottle fillers - Short news feature on KBZK TV.
• 10/16/2010 - Take Back the Tap hosted a Water Taste Test during No Impact Week and was featured in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle! Results of the Taste Test showed that the vast majority of tasters either preferred the taste of tap water (52%) or had no preference between bottled and tap (36%).

Some Facts about Bottled Water

Bottled Water Is Not Safer
The federal government requires far more rigorous and frequent safety testing of municipal drinking water than bottled water. It is tested multiple times a day, and a free report on the quality of your water can be acquired from  your local water utility. By contrast, no government agency tests bottled water, and the Food and Drug Administration has less than one full-time employee devoted to bottled water oversight.

Also, the plastic used to package bottled water can leach unhealthy chemicals into the water, especially if stored for long periods of time (in your car trunk, dorm room, etc.).

Bottled Water Is Much More Expensive
At $2 for a 20–ounce container, bottled water costs thousands of times more than tap water (and 3 or 4 times more than gasoline!). Filtering tap water can effectively remove contaminants and unusual taste at a fraction of the cost of bottled water.

Bottled Water Hurts the Environment
After millions of barrels of oil are used to package and ship plastic water bottles, over 86 percent of empty plastic water bottles in the United States land in the garbage instead of being recycled, resulting in two million tons of plastic waste each year.

Take Action!

Break the Bottled Water Habit. Join the campaign to take back the tap by pledging to reduce or eliminate your use of bottled water.

Carry Your Own Bottle. There are many cool options available including our very own stainless steel TBTT bottles, available at Avo's, the Union Market, or directly from the ASMSU Sustainability Center.

Drink Tap Water. In Bozeman we have exceptional quality mountain-source tap water. A report from the Environmental Working Group, which maintains a National Drinking Water Database, found that Bozeman had the highest quality water in the state of Montana. If you don't like the taste, a filter is a cheap alternative to bottled water.

Get Informed and Share. Check out these great resources for information about the problems associated with bottled water and how we can protect our essential water resources here in the US, and improve access to clean water world wide.

• The Story of Bottled Water - An exceptional short video on the issue (8 mins)
• Food and Water Watch - Numerous resources on water issues locally and globally.
• Tapped - a movie about the bottled water industry. Lots of resources on the website, too.
• MSU Engineers Without Borders - Student organization working to provide clean water and improved sanitation in Kenya.
• Bozeman Take Back the Tap Facebook Page

These 12oz stainless steel water bottles are just $10 and all proceeds support the ASMSU Recycling program!

Available directly from the ASMSU Sustainability Center or at the Hoseaus Fitness Center.

Contact

NECO, MSU's student environmental club, is heading up the Take Back the Tap campaign this year. To get involved call our office for current contact information.