The deadline is this week for Iowa schools to apply to have their water fountains swapped out for water bottle filling stations. Suzanne Heckenlaible, executive director of the Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation, says they’ve budgeted 300-thousand dollars for this year’s “Rethink Your Drink” program, which should be enough to outfit about 60 schools statewide.
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Last year was the first year for the program and Delta Dental spent 230-thousand dollars to retrofit water fountains in 54 schools in 26 Iowa counties. Heckenlaible says that reached about 28-thousand students, encouraging them to quench their thirst without buying a sugary soft drink.
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An added plus, in the first three months of the program, she says more than 200-thousand plastic water bottles were saved from Iowa landfills.
The deadline for schools to apply is May 1st at the following website: www.deltadentalia.com/H2O