Yo, What’s Tappening?

Jordin and Rachael Metz
Staff Writers

This is our first year in the new Harriton, a LEED certified building, which is a certification that, basically sets a green standard for buildings, trying to encourage new buildings to be built with the environment in mind. Now that is all well and good, but our school is already built, so there is not much that the construction workers can do to our new school to make it greener. Now who is left to do that? Let’s see, if it’s not the workers, the government, Canadians, Beluga whales, or aliens, then it must be…us.
That’s right, it is up to the students and staff at this school to kick off the green movement. There are a few things headed this way for the school year and, actually, these next few months at Harriton. A senior from Lower Merion, Dani Rosenzweig, the president of the Green Council for all the Lower Merion schools, is starting a program in all the schools trying to get everyone to go green. She is planning on making presentations that will encourage people to get involved. She is also going to sell apparel in the schools such as cool metal water bottles, t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. (Hopefully these will be available at all the Lower Merion schools this fall). There is still some discussion as to what the slogans will be on the merchandise, and there is even a group on Facebook called “Green Council” that has updates on Dani’s project. Dani is planning an assembly at Lower Merion to explain her ideas to the student body to raise awareness and get everyone on board and encourage people to be energy efficient.
The main focus of Dani’s project is to have the cafeterias not sell any more plastic water bottles, because it takes so much energy and resources to make them. This is a movement she likes to call Tappening. The main focus of this movement is to encourage people to use tap water instead of buying water packaged and shipped in plastic bottles. Not only does it take three liters of water to produce one liter of bottled water, it also took 17 million barrels of oil to produce all 31.2 billion liters of bottled water that Americas bought in 2006! And that does not even include the transportation of these bottles, not to mention that bottled water can cost 500 to 4000 times more than tap water. It is true that you cannot get lemon-flavored water out of a tap, but, hey, that’s what lemons are for.
Now that it has become obvious that plastic water bottles are not the most efficient things in the world, the topic of metal water bottles arises. Metal water bottles, most commonly made by the Swiss brand: Sigg, are made in an ecologically friendly environment and are 100% recyclable after their long lives. They do not leech chemicals into the drink that they hold, and they can come in many cool designs (check out Sigg’s website at www.sigg.com for crazy bottle designs). Designs on the Sigg bottles range from classic stainless steel to yin and yang to one titled “The Joker.” Who said drinking water couldn’t be entertaining?
Toxins and greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere because of bottled water is a reality and Dani wants to start taking action against that in Lower Merion. Her idea to not sell any more plastic bottles will have the cafeteria selling metal water bottles that students can reuse every day, instead of purchasing a plastic one.
Plastic water bottles have become an integral part of our society. They are everywhere one looks, from on the street to in the gym. There are so many plastic water bottles everywhere that if someone were allergic to them they would basically have to live in a bubble for fear of encountering one of these bottles. But never fear, severely allergic person, Tappening is here. And it is coming soon to places near YOU. Get ready, get set, TAP that.