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The Green BrigadeBryanna J. Ludwig, Monica Hernandez, and Antonio Valero

“Saving the Planet One Bottle at a Time”

+The Problem

The Green Brigade

+The Product

Elkay’s EZH2O refill station provides the most convenient and simplest solution to excess waste in landfills and greatly polluting some of the most beautiful attractions of our planet.

Easily accessible to all, one can simply place a water bottle under the spout and the machine will refill the bottle within seconds!

By installing more of these machines on UC Merced’s campus, students will release the effects of their positive actions as the number of plastic bottles saved is display in the upper right hand corner.

The Green Brigade

+The Target Consumers and Their Needs

Hydrations stations are the latest sustainability movement that is sweeping the nation. Filing stations are no longer just for gas, for hundreds of colleges across the United States allow students to refill water bottles. Replacing single-use plastic water bottles, hydration stations encourage greener and more environmentally safe practices. According to Brita, one hydration station can approximately reduce the waste of 36,000 water bottles a year (Brita).

Relating to the UC Merced campus, hydration stations are a cheaper option for students while encouraging our community to be proud of their eco-friendly choices. According to CamelBak, U.S. tap rates equals about $0.49 per year for the recommended eight glasses per day. Yet, that same amount of bottled water is about $1,400—just in one year!

The Green Brigade

+The Market Potential

The specific product that will be sold to UC Merced is a new, sleek hydration station produced by Elkay. The Green Brigade’s policy ensures that the UC Merced community will save greatly by utilizing the stations instead of purchasing single-serve bottled water. Located in the most convenient places, the hydration stations will greatly enforce the campus’s goals of less waste.

The Green Brigade intends to provide crisp, clean water for all UC Merced persons. We plan to attract mainly college students in applying a healthy alternative for our planet, as well as providing a financially savvy resource. Based off of competitors’ prices, the hydration stations are a large attraction as the water is FREE (compared to bottled water around $2.00 per unit).

The Green Brigade

+The Industry

Perhaps the most notable development in water bottle packaging recently has been the growth in reusable bottles, made in a range of materials. Companies such as SIGG have positioned refillable, reusable aluminum bottles as the most environmentally responsible way to drink water. Sales of SIGG aluminum water bottles have almost tripled in the four years since it had launched in the United States. In 2008, the company sold six million bottles as almost half of this amount accounts for United States sales.

In a 2009 interview with the New York Times, Steve Wasik (SIGG CEO) stated that, despite the current global economic downturn, the company expects a major percent growth in its bottle sales in years to come. Adding to the consumer appeal of reusable aluminum bottles’ “eco-chic” image is the multitude of colorful designs they offer. With over 100 designs, SIGG’s most powerful bottle is a sharp red-on-white design boasting the self-explanatory phrase, “I am not plastic.”

SIGG is not the only company making huge profits on the overwhelmingly successful market of reusable water bottles. Others such as Klean Kanteen, CamelBak, and Nalgene are empowering the reusable bottle as portable hydration stations themselves, and intensely emphasizing the importance of refilling bottles to save our planet. According the CamelBak’s website statement, a gallon of bottled water ($6.40) is more expensive than a gallon of gas ($3.58). Thus, the most significant way to positively impact the world is to reuse and refill.

The Green Brigade

+The Product Development and Manufacturing After conducting a campus survey, our data illustrates that students, staff, and

faculty prefer additional hydration stations at The Summits, Sierra Terraces, the Classroom Building, and the Science and Engineering building. As The Summits is the farthest dormitory away from the library and classrooms, our plan is to install a hydration station between Tenaya and Cathedral, which are the two sections of The Summits. This location would be convenient for first-year students who live nearby, for it would provide them easy accessibility to purified water. It would also influence them to not buy cases of packaged water bottles, and save money. Furthermore, the Valley Terraces dormitory would benefit from a station, in addition to the COB and S&E buildings. The COB and S&E are high-traffic locations as a numerous amount of students and faculty members attend class and work in these buildings; therefore, these locations will be extremely convenient and save the walk to the Kolligian Library.

In regards to installation of hydration stations, the Facilities Department of UC Merced will install the chosen station into each of the designated areas. As the locations were decided based on access to nearby water supply, pipes are easily accessible. Installation guides are provided with the machines in order to guide the process, the machine chosen (known as EZH2O IN-WALL W/CHILLER) will be mounted accordingly.

The Green Brigade

+The Locations

After conducting a campus survey, our data illustrates that students, staff, and faculty prefer additional hydration stations at The Summits, Sierra Terraces, the Classroom Building, and the Science and Engineering building. As The Summits is the farthest dormitory away from the library and classrooms, our plan is to install a hydration station between Tenaya and Cathedral, which are the two sections of The Summits. This location would be convenient for first-year students who live nearby, for it would provide them easy accessibility to purified water. It would also influence them to not buy cases of packaged water bottles, and save money. Furthermore, the Valley Terraces dormitory would benefit from a station, in addition to the COB and S&E buildings. The COB and S&E are high-traffic locations as a numerous amount of students and faculty members attend class and work in these buildings; therefore, these locations will be extremely convenient and save the walk to the Kolligian Library.

+The Impact

In regards to efforts of The Green Brigade, this project introduces the potential idea of installing four more hydration stations throughout UC Merced’s campus. The university has committed to environmental sustainability that extends beyond building efficient structures. One major goal for UC Merced is to become the greenest campus in the country. With that said, investment in additional hydration stations will emphasize the university’s dedication of minimizing its negative impacts on the environment. In addition, this is expected to eliminate much of the plastic waste that is recycled.

The Green Brigade is a student organization thriving to promote sustainability, and improve the recycling practices in the UC Merced community. Through our project, the UC Merced community will live a greener and sustainable lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle doesn’t only include a healthy diet and enough hours of sleep, but it demands more. Our well-being depends on the future that we create today. We hope that the future we speak of is created through the green and sustainable measures that most overlook on a daily basis. Our environment is key, for it has been harmed by the monstrous amount of waste produce that we, as a complex civilization, have created. Such waste includes plastic water bottle pollution, energy and biofuel waste, and much more. Therefore, it is our responsibility to clean up our planet for future generations. This is our cause. This is our mission. We are The Green Brigade.

+The Management Team

The management team consists of the three co-founder business partners, which have individual roles within the company. These roles are held at equal levels, for no duty is more important than the next. Figure ** illustrates the distribution of responsibilities amongst the co-founders.

The Green Brigade

Figure **, A Flowchart of the Responsibilities

+The Financials

In relation to The Green Brigade’s philosophy of installing four new hydration stations on UC Merced’s campus, it only seems appropriate to ask for $17,000 from Green Campus. As the machines will require at least $10,240, the additional six thousand dollars will account for the monthly filter change of each machine for around two years.

With such a great opportunity as hydration stations comes very little financial risk. The main financial components of a hydration station concern the cost of the machine itself, and installation and labor—a total of around $2,560 dollars. The monthly maintenance cost of the average hydration station found on UC Merced’s campus is around $54 a month (mainly the cost of changing the filter). A hydration station does not necessarily generate a direct profit for UC Merced itself, for it serves more as a tool to help reduce plastic waste and is expected to save students between one to two thousand dollars a year depending on how often they refill their bottles.

The Green Brigade