Stay Hydrated! BonAqua® Water Bar on Aoyama Campus

Sakuya Okada

 

       Several months have passed since Coca‑Cola (Japan) Company, Limied (CocaCola)’s BonAqua® Water Bar was installed on the Aoyama Campus in April. It was invited by the School of International Politics, Economics, and Communication’s Official Student Organisation (SANDS), and it has attracted many thirsty students to top up their water bottles. One prominent feature of the newly introduced water server is that it serves two types of sparkling water (strong and slight), in addition to still water. A.G.University News asked SANDS four questions to learn about the project in depth.

        The BonAqua Water Bar is located on the 3rd floor of Bldg. 17, and is available for all AGU students. Make sure to use bottles made for carbonated drinks since normal bottles cannot safely maintain gas pressure.

What Is SANDS?:

       SANDS (Sipec and SDGs) is a student organization that aims to think, act, and influence others for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. It is officially recognised by Aoyama Gakuin University School of International Politics, Economics, and Communication.

        This project originally started in 2021, when we questioned ourselves about students’ overconsumption of plastic bottles. We eventually found out in our survey that many students possess a water bottle, but simply do not bring it to campus. 90 percent of such students said they would do so and top it up with water, given water servers for bottles were implemented on campus. Then, we came up with the idea of reducing plastic waste by incentivising students to use refillable bottles. Although it took more time than we had expected, we were able to get into contact with Coca‑Cola, who delivers BonAqua Water Bar, kicking off the negotiation process for installation on the AGU campuses. As a result of continuous discussions on locations and costs, we were finally able to install the BonAqua Water Bar on campus in April.

How do you self-evaluate the first three months with BonAqua Water Bar on Aoyama Campus?

        We have been impressed so far that many students recognise and use the server. We are glad to see students queuing for it during breaks, as it shows the volume of demand for the 

service. Indeed, many students shared their experience of change in behaviour in our survey in June that they no longer purchase many plastic bottles because they now can use the BonAqua Water Bar. Taking this into consideration, we are pleased to see such a strong turnout at the station. However, we have received some feedback for improvement, such a strong struggling with refilling a tall bottle. So, we will keep communicating with Coca‑Cola to make it even more attractive for students.

Are there any future plans about BonAqua Water Bar?

        SANDS is currently working on various projects for their newly‑developed goal to “create a new trend for essential drinking water through promotion of water bottle uses.” We are especially focused on a project that creates and sells a water bottle with a limited design produced by SANDS on campus. In fact, we have recently launched an Instagram account for the water bottle projects. Please find and follow the account for the latest information about the server!

Message from SANDS to our readers.

Thank you always for using the BonAqua Water Bar! It would be our pleasure if you all can feel the environmental issues closer through the station. We will continue doing our best to deliver a joyful and hydrated campus life to you all, so please continue on using and loving the BonAqua Water Bar!