The UC Healthy Beverage Initiative aims to improve access to tap water and encourage its use as a healthy alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and provide the opportunity for UC campuses to make strides towards a partial or full removal of sugar sweetened beverage sales.
Unhealthy diets, such as those high in added sugars, are a major contributor to the development of preventable chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, Type 2 Diabetes, cancer, obesity, and its related cardiometabolic conditions (e.g., non-alcoholic fatty liver disease). Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), such as sodas, sport drinks, sweetened juice, and sweetened coffees and teas, are the main source of added sugars in the American diet.
With the UC Healthy Beverage Initiative funding, the Faculty & Staff Wellness Program has identified areas of need for additional water bottle fill stations and has completed installation of four full water bottle fill stations and five gooseneck water fillers. The additional water bottle fill stations can be found in the following locations:
- Crown College Clock Tower: Full water bottle filler station
- Exterior of Cowell Library: Full water bottle filler station
- Stevenson Admin Breezeway: Full water bottle filler station
- Baskin Engineering Auditorium: Full water bottle filler station
- Thimann Labs 1st Floor: Gooseneck
- Social Sciences 2nd Floor: Gooseneck
- Coastal Biology Building: Gooseneck
- Academic Resource Center: Gooseneck
- Barn H, TAPS Office: Gooseneck
In addition to the above installations, the Faculty & Staff Wellness Program is currently working on installing signage for the water bottle fill stations. A map of all the locations on campus where students, faculty, staff, and visitors can fill their water bottles can be found below.
Water fountains and water filler stations are now open throughout the campus for access by all campus community members.
Please reach out to Jessica Bulleri, Campus Wellness Program Manager, at jbulleri@ucsc.edu if you have any questions.
