aquaBUBBLER Drinking Fountains » Yarra Valley Water

It doesn’t make sense to buy bottled water

aqua — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 04:51:52 +0000

No matter how simple, compelling and logical the message, a dose of humour and ingenuity can really help to make it stick. We’ve been selling the benefits of choosing tap water over bottled water since launching aquaBUBBLER, often working with other interested organisations that share similar goals.

Yarra Valley Water’s Choose Tap Programme is a great example of raising awareness and consumption of tap water through sponsorship, education and community involvement. Travelling to schools, sports and community events with mobile ‘Choose Tap’ drinking fountains and water bottle refill stations, banners, mascots and information resources, this campaign does a great deal to keep the ‘Choose Tap’ message front of mind.

However, marketers of bottled water direct a great deal of skill, and many millions of dollars into positioning their products as being desirable and imparting fashion and status to their consumers, and it can sometimes be perceived that putting out the common-sense message of appropriate hydration – a fundamental human function just like breathing or taking in the sunshine – is maybe a little austere or wowser-ish in comparison.

And this is where the spark of genius lies in Yarra Valley Water’s latest ‘Choose Tap’ campaign. Rather than just pushing the sensible, fiscally and environmentally prudent line, it actively de-constructs bottled water marketing and turns it on its head. The campaign, with a YouTube video and associated parody website, uses a simple analogy to show the buyer of bottled water to be a ‘dupe’, conned into paying many hundreds of times the price they might pay for quality water from the tap.

It’s fun and, in my opinion, really cuts through. Being sensible and responsible by choosing tap is, of course, an excellent thing; but being seen as a hapless dupe for buying ridiculously over-priced and over-packaged bottled water will resonate with an entirely different audience.

Kudos, Yarra Valley Water, from the team at aquaBUBBLER.

All things green in Emerald

aqua — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 03:12:03 +0000

Environmental & sustainability education at Emerald Primary School is a great example of a school living what it teaches.

Nestled in a beautiful, picturesque part of Victoria it’s easy to understand why the school community is inspired to look after the environment.

Emerald Primary School container deposit scheme

Leigh Johnson, the environmental and sustainability coordinator, says the students love being part of the process: “It’s in and about their world. It’s about learning by actually putting ideas into practice”.

Some of the many impressive projects include:

— A school windmill – creating sustainable energy for the school & pumping water into the schools taps

— water tanks – storing rainwater for use in the school’s toilets

— a container deposit scheme

— school weather station – measuring temperature, air moisture, wind chill, air pressure and a rain gauge

Mr Johnson adds, “The idea is to ‘normalise’ the experiences the kids learn about in environmental studies. So that they expect to see veggie patches everywhere, wind turbines and solar heating.”

There is a “Loo Crew”, a group of students who want to help raise awareness of the sanitation crisis facing many countries (with the assistance of WaterAid – see http://www.wateraid.org/) . And the “Don’t Palm Us Off” crew – a group of students who want to educate the school community about the harmful effects of the palm oil trade and the threat to orang-utan habitats.

Emerald Primary School Students open their Yarra Valley Water Choose Tap aquaBUBBLER with water bottle refill station

“These student-led initiatives are examples of where social action meets sustainability”. These activities are part of students embracing their responsibility and contributing to the wider world and sustainable communities.

Emerald Primary School recently received its own aquaBUBBLER as part of Yarra Valley Water’s “Choose Tap” initiative.

Kangaroo Ground Primary School installs their “Choose Tap” aquaBUBBLER

aqua — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 03:29:16 +0000

Kangaroo Ground Primary School has just installed their Choose Tap aquaBUBBLER. “Our school has two aquaBUBBLERs already and jumped at the opportunity to install another one,” said Kangaroo Ground Primary School, principal Laurie Murray.

Kangaroo Ground Primary School students enjoying the Choose Tap aqauBUBBLER with water bottle refill station.

“The kids love using the aquaBUBBLERS. They are specially designed for them and encourage great health and hydration habits. The Water Bottle Fundraiser meant that the school had already raised the money required to have the aquaBUBBLER installed. It’s a great idea. Other schools should jump on board!”

“…It’s a great idea. Other schools should jump on board!”

aquaBUBBLER has teamed up with Yarra Valley Water’s Choose Tap campaign – an initiative which promotes the environmental and health benefits of drinking tap water.

Yarra Valley Water Choose Tap aquaBUBBLER drinking fountain with water bottle refill station

Schools in the Yarra Valley Water area can receive a FREE aquaBUBBLER – the modern, stylish, environmentally-friendly drinking fountain with water bottle refill station.

There are only 100 aquaBUBBLERS available

aquaBUBBLER and the “Choose Tap” campaign are the perfect combination – there is no better way to encourage kids to drink tap water than to provide a new, inviting aquaBUBBLER drinking fountain with water bottle refill station that is especially designed with schools [or “kids“] in mind!

To qualify, the school needs to participate in the Drink Bottle Fundraiser – the school purchases a minimum of 50 Choose Tap drink bottles at cost price (only $4 each), to on-sell to their community for a profit. They retail for up to $15 each. Alternatively, the school can purchase 10 1 litre Choose Tap sports bottles (which come with a free sports bottle carrier).

For more details, visit www.yvw.com.au/Home/Inyourcommunity/ChooseTap/index.htm