Water: One Less Bottle
By now you've seen the bottle tree outside of the Davis Center. Anyone overhear any interesting comments? Have you heard others on campus mention it? What do you think of this type of installation? Does it create a buzz?
posted by UVM Eco-Reps Program Coordinator @ 11:31 AM
13 Comments:
I have not heard anyone talking about it, but that's probably because I am not in that part of campus very often. I think this type of installation can be a powerful thing as long as people understand what it is about. If people don't know why there are a bunch of plastics bottles hanging from a tree, they may just think it is a prank or something.
However, if people do know what the bottles represent, it may convince them to change their ways more than just telling them a statistic would. This enables people to actually see what the impact of their purchases is, what that many plastic bottles really looks like. I don't remember if this was done already or not, but maybe an e-mail could be sent to the student body to let them know what the bottles mean. I think displays like this definitely have potential for a good education tool.
Steph
Love the tree to the eco reps who put it up. It is in a sweet location and is definately getting attention. While i was sitting at the water sampling table on Thursday almost every person who did the taste test ( which was quiet a few) commented on THE POWER OF THE TREE! Visuals like this always get peoples attention and make a point. Though i still see people drinking bottled water; didnt the test prove that tap tastes better than bottled!!!!
-Jim
It creates a lot of buzz!! I was giving a tour today and everyone was mesmerized by the artistic presentation. I gave a 5-min soapbox message during my tour about the health and environmental costs of bottled water and I encouraged everyone to drink tap water. People didn't know that bottled water, if not spring water, comes from tap water anyway and is not even as clean as tap water in many cases. Dasani being the worst. I told all this to my group and they were definitely impressed!
Although in all other situations, I suspect that the environmental health message is lost because there is no large textual message explaining the issues. People are moved by the project but do not approach it to learn what it is about. Maybe we can have a huge sign next time.
-Daniel
One of my friends made a comment on it asking what it was for. It definitely makes a scene even if people did not quite understand the point. It did a good job capturing interest and that is the first step in awareness... I don't know if it is just me being more aware or if I have noticed more people carrying water bottles around. Either way, it is pretty sweet.
I love the bottle tree! I think it looks really good. I think a lot of people have seen it and appreciate it. Eco-art is awesome because it is pretty simple to understand and hard to forget. Speaking of eco-art, whats the deal with all the light bulbs we collected from the bulb swaps? Are they going to be made into a piece of artwork?
-Liz B.
I really do think it has an impact (obviously since i was willing to to invest so much time and energy into it, i think it's worth while). While we were putting it up we had a number of people come over and comment on it, and since then lots of my friends have come up to me to say how much they like it. I think a lot of people on campus may not see is as favorably as my eco-minded friends, but i think it gets them thinking, even if they don't like it.
- mollie
Well the tree looked fabulous (<3 Mollie and company) and I think it was a very effective demonstration of environmental art. I have heard quite a bit about it, though I honestly feel that the bottled water consumption rate will not drop drastically do to it.
I think some false notion of social/economic status is at the heart of the bottled water dilemma. Unfortunately, some people (according to conversations I have had and overheard) believe that bottled water is cleaner and more convenient than tap water. Neither are true, however, until we make a big enough impact on the public mindset, expect to continue picking empty water bottles out of the trash...
Best, Colin
I was going to enter the Davis center last week and I passed the tree. At the same time a science class and TA were passing me talking about different types of trees. One of the students asked the TA jokingly about what kind of tree that was (pointing at our tree)? She replied promptly "that's a bottle tree." But, that's all I heard about our tree. I think overall it was a good idea. It could definitely be more impressive though. Maybe more trees if possible. But, UVM probably won't let us take over more than one.
Erin
I have heard a little talk about the tree from my friends and other people around me, but I was interested in seeing the reactions of prospective students and their parents while I was shadowing a tour for Advocats. They all seemed interested in finding out more about it. I think the fact that it is so colorful and looks so pretty generates a lot of interest which brings up the point of environmental art being an effective way of getting a point across.
-Arielle
I think the bottle tree was a great way to get attention and make people think about their actions. I worked the water taste test for a while in the davis center and it was great that a lot of people positively commented on it. Pieces like this are very effective!
The bottle tree was awesome!! While I was tabling, I got so many people come up and say, "Oh you guys did the bottle tree! That was really cool!" and they became interested in signing up for eco-reps. Everytime I passed by the tree, there was always someone checking it out, reading the signs or looking at the bottles. It was totally effective in showing people how much bottled water sucks. This type of environmental art really provokes thought amongst the people who go through their daily actions without thinking about the impact they have on the earth.
People were definately buzzing about the bottle tree. I am not sure that everyone knew what it was but I am sure that it caught people's attention because I heard them talking about it. I think that some people had trouble connecting the plastic bottle to a tree. I feel that the paper cups display that we had earlier int he year made more sense. However, I do think the bottle tree was effective in that it caught people's eye and had them talking about the meaning of it. It is definitely better than no display at all. Any type of dramatic scene like that helps people to think twice before buying a plastic bottle.
Emily
The bottle tree outside the Davis Center had great success. Almost every person I was walking with as I passed the tree on the way to the DC, would make comments about it or ask what I thought it was for. From what I gathered, I think more people talked about the tree last year than last year and I think it’s because since the Davis Center opened, that particular tree became a prime location for student traffic. My professor and students in my Unlearning Consumerism class even briefly discussed the tree. I think this type of visual work definitely allows student to get a greater perspective on how their “one” individual bottle can make a great impact when it is added to everyone else’s bottle waste. However, students seem to continue consuming endless water bottles one after the other. And although many students are turning to bottled water, this issue will not become completely solved until students realize how much money and energy they can save in filling up a reusable nalgene or sig!
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