Shop
Cart
Search

    High School Senior Drives Change on Campus

    Holton High senior Alexandria Bontrager was keenly aware that more effort could be devoted to addressing America’s environmental issues. But what set Alex apart was her skill at finding and funding a way to bring about change at her Kansas school.

    Map Marker (Twilight) Holton High School | Holton, KS
    Alexandria Bontrager - Holton Highschool

    About Holton High School

    Holton High School is a small secondary education campus in rural Kansas, with a student body of about 350.

     

    The Challenge

    Hoping to encourage others to reduce plastic waste by using reusable water bottles, Senior Alex Bontrager, and her fellow members of the school’s KAY Club, a leadership-training organization, initiated a fundraising effort to purchase an Elkay ezH2O Bottle Filling Station for the high school.

     

    The Zurn Elkay Solution

    Through online research, Alex learned about Elkay’s ezH2O Bottle Filling Stations. As luck would have it, Holton High School was already outfitted with Elkay drinking fountains. That made replacing a traditional unit with an ezH2O unit very simple. But first, the funds needed to be raised to purchase the new unit. Links to an online donation site made it easy for people to help. In the end, reaching out through social media proved to be a winning strategy.

     

    The Results

    “People were really excited about this project,” according to Alex. “We raised more money in a shorter time than any other fundraiser we’ve ever done.”

    With the new ezH2O Bottle Filling Station installed, students had a source of clean, healthy hydration that reduced the dependence on disposable plastic bottles. And with the new unit’s built-in filter, the school’s mineral-rich water now had a noticeably better taste.

    “It got people’s attention right away,” says Alex. “Students told me they went out and bought water bottles so they could start using the new bottle filling station.” Alex also noticed that students were very interested in the unit’s ticker feature that counts the number of refills.

    According to school officials, Holton’s new elementary building will include drinking fountains with bottle filling stations. As for the high school, the recycling program has seen a reduction in plastic bottles and has stepped up its efforts to recycle more of the 70,000 pounds of waste produced by the school every year.

    Meanwhile, Alex has been contacted by a number of schools interested in learning more about her fundraising efforts.

    I think it helps motivate people when you can see the results on the ticker – you know you’re making a difference.

    Alex Bontrager
    Holton High School Senior

    Download Holton High Shool Customer Story PDF