Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Anyone have an approach I could try to use at my children's school? At all the parties and social functions they have the bottles by the dozen and I can't stand watching them fill the garbage cans--not to mention the money I had to pay for contributions to food funds. I'm much to blunt of a person to be effective here with the PTA bunch so wondering if any can suggest an approach to get them on board?
Anyone have an approach I could try to use at my children's school? At all the parties and social functions they have the bottles by the dozen and I can't stand watching them fill the garbage cans--not to mention the money I had to pay for contributions to food funds. I'm much to blunt of a person to be effective here with the PTA bunch so wondering if any can suggest an approach to get them on board?
Ask them nicely, if they agree, then you get your result. If they do not, then that is their choice. /shrug
Whenever you ask someone to give something up that they're used to doing, you'll get better results when you offer an alternative.
So rather than saying "please stop using individual bottles of water" you could suggest: it's less expensive to have a couple of water coolers and give the kids their own plastic reusable cups. It will provide the children with the chance to practice standing patiently in line, and can be tied in with lessons in ecology. They could even enjoy decorating their own cups in an arts and crafts lesson.
On the other hand, relying on kids to not lose/break their own reusable plastic cups, or to actually wash them between uses, might prove impossible. Maybe ease the idea in slowly - have kids who want to participate, do so - and then once the idea catches on you can make it part of school policy.
Our school encourages families to send their kids with their own reusable waterbottles. They even list one among the Back to School list of supplies. The rule is they must be a "pop-top" sort to minimize spillage. It seems to work well, most kids do bring their own reusable water bottle.
There are always those moms, though, that even if the school district has a rule about no sugary drinks or candy, etc. they will send it regardless. There are moms who send in cases of bottled water and even sugar juice boxes and those nasty Capri Sun type drinks for class parties and whatnot. They just don't "get it" either out of ignorance or they simply don't care.
I used to let that kind of stuff bother me but now after so many years of dealing with public schools I've learned to pick my battles and honestly, there are bigger fish to fry. We do our best for our family and acknowledge that other families have different priorities and standards of living.
At the very least, OP, you could start up a recycling program if there isn't one already. There's no reason why all those bottles should just be thrown away.
Also wanted to add: you don't have to join the PTA/PTC moms to get things done at your kids school. We've been heavily involved in all our kids schools across four different states, raised thousands of dollars each year for various programs, and we've never officially been part of the PTC. I get involved enough to learn who gets what done, and who mostly talks and *******. From there I see where my talents might help fill whatever gaps there may be... and then I get busy - often befriending the worker moms, but being careful to keep a safe distance from the overly chatty/grumbling/griping/bitchy moms that more often than not hardly ever get any real work done.
Last edited by haggardhouseelf; 11-17-2010 at 12:38 AM..
Move to Swaziland. They don't do the bottled water thing there much. Also, they don't squander electricity, gasoline, or toothpaste. Or, you could just accept that its none of your business what other people consume.
I am not snooty or lazy. I do not like the taste of most tap water, even filtered, even flavored. It has to do with the smell. If I HAVE to drink it, I put it in a bottle with a small neck and use a straw. But the sediment that always settles on the bottom grosses me out too.
I buy a LOT of water bottles. I also buy it in 2.5 gallon jugs. I used to have a water service, but that had an off taste too sometimes, so we canceled it. We used to have a crock with large jugs that I refilled at the machines in front of the grocery store. Almost every time someone would come up and tell me that even at 25 cents a gallon I was overpaying and that a filter would save me so much money. Maybe. But the stuff I buy tastes better to me.
I wish people that freak out over the water bottle thing would stop trying to tell everyone what to do. Just because their tastebuds and sense of smell aren't developed enough to tell the difference, doesn't mean MINE isn't.
As an alternative to the kid's school party thing, instead of complaining how it's done (like most people/parents do) you could volunteer to help and do things your own way. I know that 'doing it yourself' is a radical idea, especially when it's so much easier to just criticize those who do, but I'll put it out there anyway.
One thing you'll discover is that the volunteers (these are those who are DOING, instead of just criticizing) are trying to make things easier on themselves and the teachers. Water bottles and those boxes/bags of juice are much easier to clean up than drinks in cups, and there is less spilling as well. This is important to those of us who "do" - very few of the parents send in money for the food and game fund (last year, I put together each of my kid's class parties with less than $20 in donations from more than 40 kids for both classrooms) much less, attend to help out, or stick around to help clean up if they do.
I propse a new thread entitled "How to get the snooty/lazy people to stop trying to tell me what to do and get off their own behinds and REALLY make a difference"
Last edited by sskkc; 11-19-2010 at 07:30 AM..
Reason: added
Then, maybe you could tell them of a new article that cited the plastic to be harmful to children under the age of 18. That always freaks out all of the American soccer moms who are afraid of everything.
Or, you could quit being so lazy, and recycle them yourself.
Easiest thing is to have a recycle bin for people to put their water bottles to dispose and to take the bin to the nearest recycling facility (usually home in my case). I do this at work and sometimes I find water bottles in the regular trash can. I just get them out if they are not dirty and too far down the can and place them in the bin myself.
I also like Anon Chick's idea of having the kids decorate their reusable water bottle.
You said the bottles go into the trash can. Did you mean recycling bin? I know bottles aren't ideal but it seems it would be easy to set aside one trash can or cardboard box for empty plastic bottles.
The problem I have with water coolers/fountains is the way people refill their water bottles. So imagine someone has been using their water bottle (plastic or metal). They need more water, so they head over to the water cooler. Most people I watch will put the neck of their bottle right up to the spout as far as it will go. Many times they will touch the side of the nozzle with the side of their bottle. What they should do is put the bottle right underneath the nozzle where the water comes out. By actually touching the nozzle, they are spreading their bacteria to anyone else who does the same thing. In my gym, I have never seen anyone clean those nozzles.
If you use plastic cups and a water cooler, you have the same problem, unless you are using plastic cups that you would put in the dishwasher and reuse. I now carry a reuseable steel water bottle. I hate the plastic kind. It is big enough for what I need and saves a lot of plastic bottles.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
