This story was originally published in the first issue of The Bear Truth (October 11, 2019).

The usage of plastic bottles is a concern of WSHS. While recycling these bottles is one option, a better one is to simply refill water bottles and reuse them. To make this happen, Spanish teacher, Señora Sandra Gomez decided to initiate a project where the Spanish Honor Society and other clubs on campus would donate funds to install a water bottle refill station in the front office. This would make it possible so students and staff could use the station daily to lessen the waste of plastic bottles in school. 

Plastic takes a long time to break down and besides just hurting our ecosystems, it also hurts our health. This is because of certain chemicals they have.

The project of installing water fountains was inspired by Señora Gomez’s students and by all the pollution they know is affecting the country. This is what truly inspired Señora Gomez.The first water fountain is already open for the students in the administrative building. 

Around 350 bottles have since been filled, but some people are not aware of it because the information was disseminated slowly throughout the school. For now, the water fountain in the administrative building is going to be the only one. Señora Gomez explained it as, “No money, no honey!”.

This issue can be solved by running fundraisers and raising awareness of the need for a water replenishing station. Just one water fountain alone has already made a change in our school, but WSHS can do more if more students understood the destructive consequences of using and then discarding plastic water bottles. This first refill station is just the start. With the commitment of our students and several club sponsors, the plan is to install additional water refill stations in other areas of the school.