The Student Association Senate at Mississippi State University passed a resolution Oct. 29 to install water bottle filling stations at various locations across campus.  
SA President Michael Hogan said this was an initiative brought to the SA’s attention by freshman senator, Haley Wheeler. She had noticed these filling stations on other campuses and wanted to see them used at MSU.
“The water bottle filling station will function much like the one in the Sanderson Center that is right before you get to the rock-climbing wall.  This will be an easily-accessed station to fill your water bottles completely without the worry of spreading germs,” Hogan said. “Putting these in the main hubs of campus will be a great deal of exposure. We will surely release through our personal media and would hope the buzz to extend from there.”
Wheeler, freshman senator and brain-child of this initiative, said her high school had a water bottle filling station, and it was convenient for her to carry a water bottle around because the bottle-filling station made it easier and faster to fill the water bottle.
“It’s neat to see how many water bottles my peers and I saved by using the fountain instead of buying disposable water bottles. Second, when I was touring different college campuses, I noticed that they had the bottle-filling stations,” Wheeler said. “My aim for their installation was three-fold: convenience, sustainability and staying competitive or up-to-par with other universities.”
John Williams, Residence Hall Association president, said the stations are a great initiative for the university to continue advancements in sustaninability. He said it could be substantially beneficial for the students and the university. 
“Things like this are what the SA Senate looks forward to bring to our university. The bottle-filling stations will hopefully influence students and faculty members to bring their own bottles into the union and other future bottle-filing station locations, which will promote healthier drinking alternatives and decrease the number of bottles and cups being disposed,” Williams said.
Meg Johnson, senior business management major, said a sustainable perk is that too many people use and throw away water bottles every day, but with these filling stations, students will be able to fill reusable water bottles efficiently.
“I think this is a great thing that will positively affect our campus in many ways. Buying water bottles daily can add up and is not only an unnecessary personal cost, but an unnecessary environmental cost as well. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to reach into the trash can while leaving my classroom to grab the five water bottles that were thrown in the trash can — it makes me cringe,” Johnson said.
The initiative still has not received funding, Wheeler and SA Senator John Williams are in the process of securing money for the installation. 
SA Vice President Shelby Sims said since the idea came to surface, SA has gained the support of many administrators and student groups.
“We are planning to place the first filling station in the Colvard Student Union. We have not yet secured funding for the first filling station, but we feel confident in our partnerships with green organizations such as Students for a Sustainable Campus. They have been a great ally of the Student Association on this initiative,” Sims said.
Some of the research Wheeler did included looking at different models of the stations, installation cost and general reasons for installation at the University of Mississippi and Auburn University. 
“I looked up contact information for Ole Miss and Auburn University’s facilities management faculty and sent them emails asking how they like their stations. They then provided me with general information on cost, receptivity, numbers of bottles saved, etc. Both Ole Miss and Auburn said that the stations were well-received on their campuses,” Wheeler said.