Less Waste, More Hydration
Weastec extends its heartfelt gratitude to the Highland County Health Department for managing a grant from the Ohio Department of Health. This grant aims to place free water bottle refilling stations across our Health District’s community facilities.
Through the grant, the Health Department was able to secure 50 water bottle refilling stations with the goal of reducing disease transmission through touchless filling stations, minimizing single-use plastic bottles and promoting water consumption. Weastec was awarded 2 refilling stations in response to our application, and both were installed at our Greenfield production facility.
Weastec has announced its dedication to environmental sustainability, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050. This commitment will drive initiatives aimed at fighting global warming as part of our corporate social responsibility. Our strategy takes a comprehensive approach, including waste reduction efforts. We believe that implementing these bottle filling stations is a significant leap toward achieving a sustainable society.
Water bottle filling stations are taking the place of traditional drinking fountains that have been around for decades. This shift is fueled by advancements in bottle filling technology, such as hands-free activation, filtration systems, water cooling, and the ability to show the number of plastic bottles saved.
Discarded plastic items can take as long as 1,000 years to break down, as reported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). According to earthday.org, Americans buy around 50 billion water bottles each year. This averages out to about 13 bottles per person monthly, indicating that using reusable water bottles at our Greenfield facility could save an impressive 2,496 plastic bottles each year.
When our associates know that drinking water is more readily available, they are more apt to carry reusable water bottles with closures that can be kept at their stations. The prevalence of bottle fillers gives these bottles almost a don’t-leave-home-without-it status, which benefits associates hydration throughout their day at their workstation as opposed to water fountains, where hydration is contained to just that fountain.
Throughout the year, we aim to achieve health and wellness objectives that support associates in reducing their share of insurance costs. These initiatives consistently feature a hydration challenge designed to encourage associates to increase their daily water intake, resulting in greater discounts. By providing a bottle filler, we enable our associates to easily refill their containers, helping them meet their daily water consumption goals and, ideally, fostering healthy habits!
We sincerely appreciate the Highland Co. Health Department: these refill stations are incredibly valuable to us.