Water is, as we all know, a necessity for human life. Our bodies are nearly 60 percent water and, unsurprisingly, the medical community recommends consuming lots of liquids: 13 cups a day for adult men and nine cups a day for adult women.
It also urges us to drink water instead of soda and other sugary drinks. This isn't new — we have all known for some time that we should be drinking lots of water and avoiding soda.
Which is not to say that we always put this knowledge to practice.
But what is new — to me at least — is being charged for water in a reusable cup. Yes, I am as incredulous as you probably are reading this.
But before we move too quickly to judgment, let me remind you that while water in America is inexpensive and safe, it is not free. Our drinking water goes through an extensive process of filtration and purification before it ever makes it to the tap. Because these facilities must take in revenue to support their operations, water cannot be really free.
However, people living in U.S. cities pay that cost privately in our utility bills and also sometimes, like in Columbia, publicly in our taxes to local government, which runs the water distribution service.
For USC students, that cost is included in our tuition, which, among many other things, covers the overhead costs of the school. That's why the water fountains around campus do not have a slot to swipe your credit card. Neither do water fountains anywhere else in the U.S. have such a mechanism. It is commonly accepted that providing water to the legitimate users of a facility should be free.
That is why it is mind-boggling to me that Sodexo has the audacity to charge 25 cents for a cup of tap water in a reusable cup. I can understand them charging for the disposable plastic cups with the school logo niftily emblazoned on them — although I highly doubt that each cup is really worth 25 cents.
But demanding payment for tap water in a washable cup is appalling greed on their part. Charging students in this way is pure profit for them — just another cog in their ruthlessly efficient machine for extracting money from students. Not only is this an obvious money grab, it also sends a negative message to students.
Charging unnecessarily for water discourages and disincentivizes students from trying to live a healthy lifestyle. In addition, the disposable cups that students use by the thousands each day are not recyclable — although apparently they can be "industrially composted.” While it’s reasonable that students who want to get their water in disposable cups pay for the cost of the cup, tap water in a reusable cup should obviously be free.
Not charging students for water in reusable cups will have a two-fold positive benefit: 1.) It will encourage students to take up the healthy habit of drinking water, and 2.) It will cut down on non-recyclable waste products.
I am aware that making these changes will probably require investing in larger numbers of reusable cups, but while that may be more expensive up front, the benefit to the environment will be worth it. It’s time for USC and Sodexo to stop charging for tap water in reusable cups and put their talk about healthy eating and green living into action.