Associated Students decided to sell Boxed Water on campus due to its environmental benefits.

“A.S. wanted to start selling water that has sustainable packaging, gives back to causes that we feel are important and has a lower carbon footprint than traditional bottled water,” said Jake Jacobs, A.S. Commissioner of Sustainability Affairs.

Boxed Water is water in a box with more benefits than water in a plastic bottle. Unlike most plastic bottles, Boxed Water’s boxes are 100 percent BPA free and made of the same sustainable material used to make coconut water packaging, but with a higher percentage of paper.

Benefits:

· 1 percent of Boxed Water annual sales supports reforestation and water relief

· 76 percent of the packaging is made from trees

· Five-step filtration: purified with UV, carbon and reverse osmosis

· Free from chromium, arsenic, chlorine, fluoride and trade pharmaceuticals

Drawbacks:

· Boxed Water is 100 percent recyclable at participating facilities only

· 10 cents more than its competitors at A.S. dining locations

“Many students are skeptical about buying Boxed Water. They’ll come in and pick up the water and give it a weird look, then they’ll just place it back,” said Common Grounds barista Ricky Roberts. “But it’s slowly starting to catch up.”

Through word-of-mouth, students are starting to give Boxed Water a try, but still, many remain distrustful of drinking water from a box that resembles a milk carton.

“I don’t think I’d buy it. I like seeing what I’m drinking and with Boxed Water I can’t,” said Sofia Rodriguez, senior biology major.

The objective of Boxed Water is to provide a safe and sustainable alternative to bottled water. Boxed Water caters to the consumer who wants the convenience of plastic bottled water, but also wants to make an everyday choice that positively affects the environment, Jacobs said.

Students at Chico State can purchase Boxed Water at all A.S. dining locations including Butte Station, Holt Station, the BMU Marketplace, Common Grounds and Creekside Coffee.

Yoselin Calderon can be reached at [email protected] or @ymarcane on Twitter.