SCHOOL FOOD ENVIRONMENT
ENACT STRATEGY: Water
Serve water to drink; have clean sources of tap water and/or working water fountains
One of the most important, and often overlooked, beverages children should be consuming is water. As institutions serving the need of children, it is particularly important for schools to offer clean sources of water and working water fountains throughout the school. The health benefits of water are far-reaching, including cutting down on mild dehydration which can trigger poor short-term memory, trouble with basic math, difficulty focusing on the printed page and daytime fatigue. Drinking enough water is also especially important for youth engaging in physical activity. Tap water is preferable to bottled water as bottled water carries a high environmental cost, including increased air pollution from transportation and toxic emissions from plastic production. Plastic water bottles are also one of the fastest growing sources of municipal waste; only 23% of bottles are recycled, most end up in a landfill. Municipal tap water in the United States is more tightly regulated than bottled water, and is delivered through an energy-efficient infrastructure.
- Allow easy access to free, fresh drinking water
- Provide and maintain water coolers and/or water fountains
- Water sources located in other locations than just bathrooms
- Encourage students to keep reusable water bottles on their desk
- Distribute reusable water bottles to all students
This document provides quick facts on the health benefits of water, risks of dehydration, and amount of water children need to drink.
Bottled Water: Learning the Facts and Taking Action
This resource from the Sierra Club provides a summary on the environmental costs of bottled water.
This pilot program in three schools resulted in 39% of students reporting to drink more water and 70% reporting using a refillable water bottle.
Water is Cool in School Campaign
“The Water is Cool in School Campaign aims to improve the quality of provision and access to fresh drinking water for children in UK primary and secondary schools.” Two Case Examples highlight schools that have found success in attaching water coolers to the main tap and distributing water bottles that students can fill with the chilled tap water.
Water at Work and School: A Pilot Project at Obsdale Primary
This document highlights a program in which water coolers were installed and sports flasks distributed to all students and staff at this school in Scotland.
Water Quality Funding Sources for Schools
This guide developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, helps schools and child care providers identify potential funding sources to improve the water quality at their sites.
This checklist allows schools to access the availability of drinking water throughout the school day.
Think Water: Guidance on Water in Schools (PDF)
This guide from the Welsh Government discusses implementing a water cooler and water bottles on the desk scheme in schools. The resource includes information on the care and cleaning of the water coolers and bottles.
Proposed Beverage Policy in Seattle School District
This draft beverage policy includes steps towards making good quality, free, cold drinking water a high priority for every school in the district.
The Think Outside the Bottle Campaign is “the collective effort of major national organizations, cities, prominent people, communities of faith, student groups, and concerned consumers across North America.” Think Outside the Bottle encourages consumers to choose tap over bottled water and support the efforts of local elected officials to do the same at the city, state, and national level.
This article, published by Food and Water Watch, explains the environmental, financial and social costs of bottled water. The article points to why tap water is the healthier choice and more environmentally-sound, as well as advocates for increased funding for public water infrastructure.
“In the war between bottled water and tap water, which should you choose?”
This article, published by IntelliHealth, discusses the merits of tap water versus bottled water.
Cooled filtered water in secondary schools increases water drinking and decreases soda purchases**
This pilot study found that providing and promoting cooled filtered water increased consumption of water by secondary students.
Louchridge, JL and Barratt, J. Does the provision of cooled filtered water in secondary school cafeterias increase water drinking and decrease the purchase of soft drinks? Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. 2005 Aug;18(4): 281-6.
**We can only provide links to the article abstracts and not the full text.