This is a super deluxe water fountain. It doesn’t even go by fountain. It’s an Elkay Bottle Filling Station, with multiple drinking faucets and a hands-free, sensor activated bottle refill function. A ticker at the top tells thirsty users how many 20 ounce plastic water bottles they have collectively not used by bringing their own container.
The problem? Look at the photo.
A reader saw this inside a building in downtown Hartford and texted it to me with one word: “disconnect.”
The not-so-funny thing is that I have observed this separately, also in Hartford, and it makes me want to scream every time. But I don’t scream. Because I don’t need to choke on my water.
Someone — not the manufacturer — in each place has decided that for whatever reason, it was necessary to put plastic cups out.
To be fair, when the wild barrage of misinformation about coronavirus had institutions shutting down water fountains (along with communal lockers and public restrooms), a place allowing a fountain to operate with the caveat that people use single-use disposable cups instead of the faucets . . . well, that was at least thoughtful for them considering the basic need of hydration. But that garbled info about virus spread was cleared up rapidly, actually, and it has been solidly three years since this could be excused as a place trying their best.
Are these cups sitting there three years later because someone forgot to remove them, or are they being replenished by people who enjoy redundancy?
This machine already offers an appealing choice: filtered cold water delivered straight into your mouth or into a container that you provide.
If someone requires a vessel out of which they must drink, it seems fair to expect them to carry it with them. If it is a mere preference, then sip from the faucet. These are not the disgusting, barely operable fountains that could be found in any elementary school in the 1980s when it was guaranteed that at least one kid would stick his entire mouth over the faucet (why?! WHY?!). These actually work as they should and stay cleaner.
I suspect part of the plastic cup presence has to do with people believing they’re being hospitable, but what could be done instead is to better communicate expectations with visitors/employees/customers: tell them that they can bring their own bottle to refill or drink directly from a faucet. Either way, they’re still being provided with safe drinking water at no cost to them, and with consideration for our environment.
I know, I’m expecting way too much. We live in a time when businesses will post ten pics of their lunch special, but fail to list their address or operating hours anywhere on that same social media account.
Disconnect, indeed.
Photograph: Water fountain/water bottle refill station inside of a building in downtown Hartford; photograph submitted by a reader who wishes to remain anonymous
Climate Possibilities is a new series about climate mitigation, along with resilience, resistance, and restoration. It’s about human habitat preservation. It’s about loving nature and planet Earth, and demanding the kind of change that gives future generations the opportunity for vibrant lives. Doomers will be eaten alive, figuratively. All photographs are taken in Hartford, Connecticut unless stated otherwise.
Disconnect
This is a super deluxe water fountain. It doesn’t even go by fountain. It’s an Elkay Bottle Filling Station, with multiple drinking faucets and a hands-free, sensor activated bottle refill function. A ticker at the top tells thirsty users how many 20 ounce plastic water bottles they have collectively not used by bringing their own container.
The problem? Look at the photo.
A reader saw this inside a building in downtown Hartford and texted it to me with one word: “disconnect.”
The not-so-funny thing is that I have observed this separately, also in Hartford, and it makes me want to scream every time. But I don’t scream. Because I don’t need to choke on my water.
Someone — not the manufacturer — in each place has decided that for whatever reason, it was necessary to put plastic cups out.
To be fair, when the wild barrage of misinformation about coronavirus had institutions shutting down water fountains (along with communal lockers and public restrooms), a place allowing a fountain to operate with the caveat that people use single-use disposable cups instead of the faucets . . . well, that was at least thoughtful for them considering the basic need of hydration. But that garbled info about virus spread was cleared up rapidly, actually, and it has been solidly three years since this could be excused as a place trying their best.
Are these cups sitting there three years later because someone forgot to remove them, or are they being replenished by people who enjoy redundancy?
This machine already offers an appealing choice: filtered cold water delivered straight into your mouth or into a container that you provide.
If someone requires a vessel out of which they must drink, it seems fair to expect them to carry it with them. If it is a mere preference, then sip from the faucet. These are not the disgusting, barely operable fountains that could be found in any elementary school in the 1980s when it was guaranteed that at least one kid would stick his entire mouth over the faucet (why?! WHY?!). These actually work as they should and stay cleaner.
I suspect part of the plastic cup presence has to do with people believing they’re being hospitable, but what could be done instead is to better communicate expectations with visitors/employees/customers: tell them that they can bring their own bottle to refill or drink directly from a faucet. Either way, they’re still being provided with safe drinking water at no cost to them, and with consideration for our environment.
I know, I’m expecting way too much. We live in a time when businesses will post ten pics of their lunch special, but fail to list their address or operating hours anywhere on that same social media account.
Disconnect, indeed.
Photograph: Water fountain/water bottle refill station inside of a building in downtown Hartford; photograph submitted by a reader who wishes to remain anonymous
Climate Possibilities is a new series about climate mitigation, along with resilience, resistance, and restoration. It’s about human habitat preservation. It’s about loving nature and planet Earth, and demanding the kind of change that gives future generations the opportunity for vibrant lives. Doomers will be eaten alive, figuratively. All photographs are taken in Hartford, Connecticut unless stated otherwise.
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