Most of the trash bins in IESE have lots of empty water bottles at the end of a day. Since most of them have lids open, it is not hard not to notice the empty bottles. Is this a problem? I think it is a problem because we are generating too much waste which can be reduced by more than 50%. Second, we do not seem to have any recycling bins, so they are not recycled and hence become a burden to the landfills, or basically to our mother nature.

How can it be solved?
1) By having recycling bins. I will suggest this idea to Student Affairs. Generally they are very receptive, so hopefully we will see recycling bins at IESE in the future.

2) By reusing the bottles. I frequently reuse my water bottles. If there are "20 or so liters mineral water jars" dispensers in common places, I am sure many students would opt to refill their bottles as it would save them time of going to the bar to purchase a bottle, money as you have to pay something like 1 Euro to buy a 1 liter bottle in the bar and of course personal satisfaction in contributing to less plastic waste.

On this topic, I think even "tap water" dispensers would be better than having nothing. It may sound awful to some students, but I drink tap water in Barcelona. In the beginning I didn't like the taste at certain times, but nowadays I am used to it and it tastes just fine. And I am told that it is safe to drink tap water in Barcelona. If it was Kathmandu, I wouldn't be drinking tap water directly.