University of Tokyo students successfully campaign for water servers to drive sustainable transformation!
From left to right: Hinako (mymizu), Daiki (GXSN), Mahi (GXSN), Leah (GXSN) and Robin (mymizu)
A group of students belonging to the UTokyo GX Student Network (GXSN), a student organisation at the University of Tokyo, have been working relentlessly to install water servers on campus for over two years.
The main aim of this is to make it easier for people to use their own reusable bottles, instead of single-use plastic ones. As a result of their efforts, 22 water servers have been installed across the University of Tokyo’s campuses!
mymizu’s Hinako and Robin visited the university’s Komaba Campus to talk to three of the students leading the GXSN about the motivation behind their activities and the challenges they faced. We hope you enjoy the interview with Mahi, Daiki and Leah below!
What is UTokyo GX Student Network (GXSN)?
GXSN, formerly known as the UTokyo Sustainable Network (UTSN), was founded in 2021. Its goal is to foster a culture of sustainability within and beyond the classrooms and laboratories of the University of Tokyo.
By utilising its campuses as a model of a sustainable society, the organisation aims to co-create an environment that promotes and embodies sustainability at its very core. Alongside pushing the academic frontiers of sustainability through research and providing theoretical and practical education, GXSN hopes to catalyse further changes beyond UTokyo too.
Part of GXSN’s mission is to empower individual members of the community to take action and minimise environmental impacts of their activities.
Its current projects include installing water servers, increasing plant-based food options, running a community garden, race-to-zero planning, green impact, and nature-positive university planning. You can find out more about the group and their activities on their website.
What made you want to set up water refilling stations across the campus?
Daiki: Everyone drinks water. I wanted to transform the frequent habit of refilling water into an opportunity for students to think about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This idea was born when Mahi and I were on a team and had to think about concrete ideas for achieving the SDGs. There, we decided to work on making a platform to refill water in your own bottle to reduce PET bottle usage.
Why did you decide to specifically focus on PET bottles?
Mahi: We focused on PET bottles because they can easily be replaced with reusable bottles, making the shift effortless for people on campus.
Did the team continue with this project after the class ended?
Daiki: Yes. Mahi and I were the only members of the five-member team who continued our activities after class. Leah, who was participating in the class as a teaching assistant at the time, was a member of the UTokyo Sustainable Campus Project (TSCP) Student Committee. Like us, another member of the TSCP student committee, Akari, had a similar idea, so Leah connected us, and the pioneer project of UTSN began! There were people from other environmental circles who joined too, and many other members left and joined the group over time. This is because the hurdles to installing water servers were high, and in many cases, nothing moved forward.
Given how long the process took, how did you find the resilience to keep going?
Mahi: We found motivation in the fact that we didn't want to refill with water in the restrooms anymore. We as a team wanted to supply cold and clean water across the campus!
What did you do to install the water servers?
Mahi: Aside from creating a Slack group for UTSN and increasing the number of members, we wrote a 45-page proposal to convince the university. At the time, none of us had that much experience in writing proposals, therefore our seniors Akari and Leah were instrumental.
Did you have the opportunity to talk to the university?
Leah: In 2021, the university started organising student dialogues to facilitate communication between the faculty and student body. We participated in multiple dialogues, but the only feedback we received was to “talk to more people” and “no promise can be made at the moment”.
You worked for a year and nothing changed?
Mahi: Yes! We then changed our strategy and approached the University of Tokyo's official student organisation, the Komaba Jichikai (Student Union). The Jichikai communicates student demands to the university and works to communicate needs through negotiations. We discussed the possibility of having a number of water servers installed on a trial basis, but the proposal was not feasible due to a lack of budget.
There are a wide range of student requests made to the Komaba Jichikai. Some wanted more vending machines, while others, like us, wanted water servers installed to reduce the consumption of plastic bottles. When considering the students' requests, we thought it would be good to have some kind of guideline, like ensuring any request takes environmental sustainability into account too.
How did you get the initial 13 water servers installed from there?
Daiki: This is because President Teruo Fujii and Executive Vice President Tatsuya Okubo of the University of Tokyo began to promote “Green Transformation“ (GX). The university began to work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, among other things, with the aim of realising a sustainable and inclusive society.
It was a concrete and feasible proposal, so the university led the way and installed them accordingly. I was surprised at how sudden it was. I think it was good that we were able to clarify the rationale for installing the water server by conducting a survey of students to estimate the number of people to be served and the cost.
What was the most challenging part of all of this?
Leah: As a project and the network, we alI struggled with the lack of transparency and communication in decision-making on the part of the university. We had no other choice but to keep sending emails to the university and discuss with the faculty and administrative staff members through “off-the-record” and ad-hoc meetings…
Mahi: For me, it was definitely maintaining motivation. After a year of hard work and no results, I was really demotivated and wondered if the project was worth working on. There were many members who lost motivation and were not active. Nevertheless, we inspired ourselves to write a better proposal reflecting the results of the student survey and continued working on the project. What was needed was perseverance. In the end, the water servers were installed and we gained confidence that we could make a difference! We were lucky and grateful that the university decided to support our project.
How do you incentivise students to fill their own water bottles?
Mahi: It's all about sending out positive messages. Specifically, instead of saying “no plastic bottles”, we try to convey a more positive image. For example, Leah made a poster of this cute whale hugging a reusable bottle saying 「マイボトル使ってくれてありがとう!」meaning “thank you for using your own reusable bottle”.
There are also two things we did with reference to mymizu. Firstly, we made a map of where the water servers are located. With the map, wherever you are, you can go to the nearest water server and fill up. Secondly, Leah designed stickers and we distributed them at our events. We wanted to give students something to make them feel like they were part of a movement.
What were the positive effects of installing the water refill stations?
Daiki: Other than the fact that we have students frequently using them, visualising tangible results is a challenge. The water meters allow us to see how much water is being supplied at each unit, so we can analyse to what extent PET bottles have been reduced. We would also like to work with the Co-op to investigate whether there has been a change in the purchasing of drinking water. By doing so, we can encourage the university to install more water servers on the Komaba campus and other campuses as well.
Why did you choose to openly share your proposal, workings and research related to this water server project on your website?
Mahi: This proposal is proof of what we did and other people can use it as a reference. The university is the one that actually introduced the water refill system, so it says "UTokyo Green Transformation" in large letters on the water server. On the other hand, 'UTSN' is just written on a map and poster we created, which is posted next to it. We decided to put it up so that people know that students can make a difference if they try. And we hope that it will inspire people who see it to take some action too.
What would you like to do in the future?
Mahi: We would like to collaborate with students from other universities who belong to environmental clubs and share the challenges we have faced. I think it is important to learn from each other! Also, I think it is time to evaluate the role and quantity of beverage vending machines on campus. With sufficient water servers located strategically, perhaps we can wish farewell to some of the many vending machines on campus.
What would you like to say to people who want to take action or are already taking action in their universities or communities?
Mahi: If you have an idea, try to find like-minded individuals who share the same vision and try to realise the project as a team.
Daiki: Coming up with an idea and actually doing it are two completely different things. Installing water refill spots is an idea that everyone comes up with. But when we actually worked on it, it was hard to make it happen. If an idea comes to mind, do it. I learnt a lot and grew a lot while working on it. I wasn't confident we would succeed, but I'm glad it all worked out!
Leah: For us, refilling our own bottles is a good and natural thing to do. But for many people it is not. There is a lot of disagreement, but it is important to be prepared to disagree sometimes and to think about strategies to work around challenges.
It is truly inspiring to hear from these student leaders who dedicated over two years of hard work towards instigating this kind of change.
The way they have shared their proposals and research so openly on their website is also a powerful way to encourage and support others with similar ideas. Their efforts will undoubtedly have a major impact not only at the University of Tokyo but also across many other school and university campuses in the years to come.
As mymizu, we receive many requests from high school and university students wanting to make their campuses more sustainable. That’s why we are so glad to be collaborating with these students at the University of Tokyo to showcase a strong example of how students can drive tangible change, like campaigning to have water servers installed on their campuses.
We look forward to continued collaborations with students in the future, as we all work towards more sustainable campuses across Japan and the world! 🎉