Cupanion shows positive results after one month

The Cupanion Fill it Forward program at Radford University is a little more than a month old and already it is producing results aimed at reducing the amount of single-use items on campus and delivering clean water to people in need.

The Cupanion Fill it Forward program at Radford University is a little more than a month old and is already producing results aimed at reducing the amount of single-use items on campus and delivering clean water to people in need.

By scanning the Cupanion Radford University Fill It Forward tag barcode on their refillable water bottles, students, faculty and staff have diverted more than 103 pounds of waste from landfills, said Radford University Sustainability Manager Josh Nease.

That has led to more than 20 pounds of ocean pollution prevented.

Additional statistics provided by Cupanion from the first month show that 1,956.1 kilowatts of electricity per hour are being saved, and 1,520 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions have been prevented.

“After only a month on campus, the statistics for our Fill It Forward program tell an exciting story of community engagement around sustainability,” Nease said. “It’s something tangible that each of us can do. It’s measurable, and collectively, it makes a difference.”

Participants in the program at Radford scan their water bottle tags with the Cupanion app on their smartphones. Water bottle filling stations, located in all residence halls and most campus buildings, make refilling easy. The app records each refill.

The Cupanion app calculates donations and points, and it helps participants track their environmental footprints and hydration. 

With each scan, users are donating through Cupanion a cup of clean water. So far, Radford users have helped donate 3,456 cups of clean water to people in need. It also helped to complete nine clean water projects in North America and Africa, statistics from Cupanion reveal.

Radford University’s participation in the program underscores its commitment to engage students, faculty and staff to learn, discover and contribute to positive current and future environmental solutions.

Radford University continues to reduce its carbon footprint in becoming a model institution for sustainability practices in the Commonwealth of Virginia and across the United States. The University has been included in The Princeton Review’s “Top Green Colleges in the Nation” since 2010, and 11 campus buildings have earned either LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold or silver certification.

 

Oct 8, 2019
Chad Osborne
540-831-7761
caosborne@radford.edu