An exciting opportunity from Wishing Wells co-founder Brent Packer ’15:

Wishing Wells is a budding environmental start-up born from a Wesleyan design competition. We’re expanding quickly & are looking for ambitious students to join our team.

Plastic waste is a serious issue. There is currently 100 million tons of plastic disintegrating in our oceans causing tremendous harm to marine life. The energy used to create the annual American demand for plastic water bottles uses enough energy to fuel 1.3 million cars for 1 year.

Universities across North America are stepping up to the challenge to eliminate plastic water bottle waste. Many, including Wesleyan, have banned bottled water from campus; however, they still have trouble hydrating guests at large campus events such as Reunion & Commencement, football games, music festivals, etc. Their only options were to rent/ purchase a high cost hydration structure or to break their commitment by purchasing thousands of water bottles… until now.

Wishing Wells provide chilled, filtered water requiring nothing more than ice and a hose connection. From just a handful of Wesleyan events, these lost-cost structures have already saved over 10,500 water bottles. With backing from a Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship seed grant, we’re looking to spread this technology as effectively as possible. With ambitious plans to open-source publish our designs online, partner with Middletown manufacturers, and tour to neighboring Universities/ organizations, we need other students with the same entrepreneurial drive to make this happen.

Apply at wwells.org by November 1. Also check out recent coverage in the Hartford Business Journal and Wesleying, as well as the founders’ first and second PCSE grant reports.