Virginia Tech is selling reusable water bottles for $10 ($20 in meal plan flex dollars) as part of an effort to rid the campus of plastic water bottles, reports the Collegiate Times. The 750 ml stainless-steel bottles feature a screw-off wide-mouth top that makes refilling easy, while a separate mouthpiece with a flip-open cover is used to drink from the container.
The school defends the price of the bottles by noting that they are durable, sanitary, easy to clean and sustainable. The price can also be recouped simply by not buying one bottle of water for eight days and using the free water refills instead. The bottles can also hold soda but are not recommended for milk, juice or coffee.
A pilot launch recently made 200 of the bottles available to student to gauge interest. The program will be fully implemented over the summer during freshman orientation, when incoming students may receive one for free to use over their four years
