Towne Meadow Elementary Girl Scout Troop 88 Asks Students to “Try the Tap”

Members of Girl Scout Troop 88 at Towne Meadow Elementary (TME) in Carmel (Indiana) are asking fellow classmates to “Ban the Bottle, Try the Tap” in an effort to cut down on the amount of bottled water consumed in the school’s cafeteria. This is part of their school-wide educational campaign on the negative impact that disposable plastic water bottles have on our environment. On average, 112 bottles of water are consumed each day at TME – that’s more than 2240 bottles a month at just one school!

In a ceremony on March 27 with Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard, Girl Scout Troop 88 and their leader, Mrs. Ruth Perkins, was awarded a $650 grant from the Carmel Green Teen Micro-Grant Program to fund their project. The girls will use this money to educate their school about the wastefulness of bottled water and encourage the consumption of tap water instead. An eye-catching bulletin board display, posters, educational video, reminders during the school’s morning announcements, and the dissemination of reusable, stainless steel water bottles to TME students – are all part of their project to raise awareness.

Their goal is to help our environment by keeping disposable bottles out of our landfills, reduce the amount of oil used to produce and transport the bottles, and reduce the amount of plastic debris that litters our landscape and impacts wildlife and ecosystems, and to educate students to change their behavior and drink water from the tap or bring it from home in reusable containers.