In 2013, the University of Vermont banned the sale of bottled water on its campus to cut down on single-use bottles in the waste stream. However, the plan backfired and the number of plastic bottles being shipped to campus actually went up. NPR,
“Student ended up using more single-use bottles and drinking less healthy beverages out of them. Now the university is trying to figure out how to balance sustainability and nutrition in on-campus beverage sales…
“RACHEL JOHNSON: They weren’t using fewer bottles, or they weren’t purchasing fewer bottles. And then of what they were purchasing – they were purchasing more unhealthy drinks.
“DOBBS: A study by UVM nutrition professor Rachel Johnson and one of her students found that eliminating bottled water actually drove the total number of single-use bottles up.”
