The Office of Sustainability recently received some exceptionally positive feedback from College Lodge RA, Brenna McNamara, about their new water bottle refill station.  Brenna is a great example of a passionate RA who is constantly looking for ways to improve the lives of her residents and make CofC’s residence halls the best they can be.

We love this kind of feedback!  Thanks for reaching out to us, Brenna!

“As an Orientation Intern, I have spent every summer of my college career in Charleston. Last summer I noticed something new in Maybank Hall, I noticed that the building had gotten awesome new water refill stations. Using them over the summer was great and a super easy way to save money, save the environment and stay hydrated. This year, when I moved into College Lodge, where I am a resident assistant, I noticed our water fountain was broken. After noticing how the lack of a water fountain was playing a role in my residents daily lives, I came up with the idea of contacting the Office of Sustainability. I asked about the possibility of getting a refill station in College Lodge. I think that residence halls are one of the best places to have a refill station because there is constant traffic and what better way to test it out. After a semester of communication and figuring out logistics, we came back from break with a wonderful present. The residents love the refill station and constantly use it, I think College Lodge is the perfect new home for our lovely gift. As of today, we have saved over 1095 water bottles. The fact that you can actually see the change you are making is an easy way to push you in the right direction. Residents are excited about making the number of bottles that we save go up. The other day, my fellow resident assistant and I, filled up our cups and saved our 1000th water bottle. It was a random exciting moment that I never thought would be so fun. We ran around the lobby screaming that we got to 1000 bottles while our residents gave us high fives and laughed. I know it sounds lame, but we truly had a good time doing one simple thing for the environment. Thank you so much for showing us how to make saving the environment fun! Can’t wait to see what else our new refill station brings us!”