Who in their right mind buys water anyway? Especially on a college campus with cold water fountains everywhere. Just bring your own bottle and fill it up there. You’d have to be nuts to spend 2 or 3 dollars a bottle for water.
Why is it any of your business?
Ah, but if people will buy it, why not sell it? Supply and demand. Kids with coolers and a bit of sense can start making money hand over fist by buying the 24-packs in grocery stores and re-selling single bottles to kids on campus. The poor school will lose money to young entrepreneurs; wait, this is starting to sound awesome.
I actually only drink bottled water, but that’s because water tastes terrible to me and the bottled stuff tastes more like the plastic it’s been sitting in than pipes. I’m perfectly happy to drink juice or soda instead (extremely healthy, I know, but at least that’s probably worth $2-3). I’m happy to shell out for something that tastes better to me. It’s also more convenient; nothing to clean! Nothing to carry around with you well after you’re done drinking. It would annoy me if I had something I enjoyed and was willing to pay for taken away because someone wanted to raise awareness and reduce the environmental footprint.
But, I do agree that it seems ridiculous to pay good money for something that’s 3 cents from your tap. So I say as I drink a bottle of water that is both tolerable and convenient.
Suppose I go visit this university and have failed to remember to bring along my refillable water bottle. I become thirsty and decide to purchase a bottled beverage so that I can have a bottle which I can refill later in the day. I no longer have the choice to buy just plain old water, the best option for hydration, I believe. My choice is probably going to be among some carbonated beverages, which I don’t like that much. Water drinkers are being discriminated against!