How Water Dispensers Drive Sustainability

When you walk into almost any office, you’ll likely see a row of single-use plastic water bottles lined up on shelves in the fridge, half-empty bottles left on desks, or stacks of disposable cups by the water cooler. While single-use plastic bottles and cups may seem convenient, they have a hidden cost for the planet and your workplace budget.

Now imagine a workplace outfitted with sleek, modern water dispensers that provide crisp, filtered water and ice. Employees use reusable bottles and refill them throughout the day, and there’s less waste sent to recycling facilities, or worse, landfills. In this office, hydration keeps your employees happy and productive and doesn’t harm the planet.

At Canteen, we believe hydration stations can create a greener, healthier workplace. In this article, we’ll dive into how making water and ice stations available in the workplace improves sustainability, boosts employee satisfaction, and supports your company’s broader environmental goals.

How Something as Simple as Water Can Impact Sustainability

The Scale of Single-Use Plastic Waste

According to the International Bottled Water Association, in 2024 Americans bought 16.2 billion gallons of bottled water, a 2% increase over 2023. That translates to tens of billions of single-use plastic bottles every year.

Even though plastic bottles are technically recyclable, fewer than 30% actually get recycled in the U.S. The rest ends up in landfills, incinerators, and sometimes even in our oceans. Once there, a plastic bottle can take 450 years or more to fully break down.

Workplaces contribute a significant amount of plastic waste to this stream, especially offices that supply bottled water by the case or rely on disposable cups at beverage stations. By rethinking workplace hydration and implementing electronic water dispensers, companies can drastically reduce their plastic footprint.

The Carbon Footprint of Bottled Water

It’s clear that single-use plastic harms the environment, but it’s not just the bottles themselves that cause problems. Bottled water production uses valuable resources in the following ways:

• It takes about 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water
• Manufacturing and transporting bottles require large amounts of fossil fuels
• Bottled water has a carbon footprint up to 2,000 times greater than tap or filtered water

That’s a lot of energy and emissions for something we can access from the tap with the right filtration.

How Workplace Water Dispensers Make a Difference

Cutting Single-Use Plastics

Installing a workplace water dispenser drastically reduces the need for single-use bottles and disposable cups. When employees have access to filtered, great-tasting water on demand, they’re more likely to bring their own reusable bottles or cups to refill throughout the day. You could even supply tumblers or reusable water bottles with your company’s logo as a sustainability initiative in your workplace.

Multiply that by dozens or hundreds of employees, and you can easily save thousands of bottles per year. That’s fewer raw materials consumed, less energy spent on transportation, and less waste ending up in landfills.

Supporting Sustainable Habits at Work (and Beyond)

You don’t just become a different person when you leave work and go home. The habits you have in the workplace spill over into your personal life and vice versa. When employees get used to refilling a reusable water bottle at work, they’re more likely to keep up the habit outside of the office. That ripple effect means that a single water dispenser can influence a whole network of people. Your reach extends to homes, schools, gyms, and communities.

It’s a small but powerful way for a company to champion sustainability and influence the values employees uphold.

Lowering Costs While Improving Environmental Impact

We often think that sustainability is the right thing to do, and while that’s true, that’s not all it is. Sustainability can also be a good business decision. By reducing the amount of bottled water deliveries to your workplace, you can also save on recurring purchasing costs, reduce how much storage space you need, and cut back on waste hauling fees.

Making green initiatives visible, like replacing single-use plastic bottles with modern water stations, signals to employees and clients that your organization takes corporate social responsibility (CSR) seriously. According to NielsenIQ, 73% of global consumers say they would definitely change their consumption habits to reduce environmental impact. That means your sustainable workplace practices resonate beyond your walls.

Why Ice Matters Too

We don’t often think about ice in the sustainability conversation, but it plays a surprisingly important role. Employees are more likely to drink more water when cold, refreshing water and ice are available. They might choose cold, great-tasting water and ice can over other drinks that come in plastic bottles. This can also boost wellness as workers reach for water rather than sugary drinks like juice or soda.

Here’s how ice solutions contribute:

• Encourages Hydration: Most people think that cold water tastes better than lukewarm or room temperature water. Having easily accessible cold water can drive people to drink more water and stay better hydrated.
• Cuts Sugary Drink Demand: Employees with access to cold water and ice may skip sodas, sports drinks, or bottled teas, reducing plastic waste and boosting wellness.
• Enhances Versatility: Ice dispensers allow employees to customize their drinks, from iced tea to fruit-infused water, further promoting sustainable, healthier choices.

In short, pairing water and ice stations is a win for both wellness and waste reduction.

Canteen’s Role: Sustainable Hydration Made Simple

Canteen offers more than just coffee and snacks. We’re also here to transform the way workplaces think about refreshment, hydration, and sustainability. Here’s how our water and ice solutions give you what your workplace needs.

1. Filtered, Great-Tasting Water

Our dispensers use advanced filtration to deliver crisp, clean water without chlorine or impurities that can also affect the water’s taste. Our solutions also offer carbonated, flavored, and fruit-infused waters that people love. When water tastes better, employees drink more and might skip bottled alternatives.

2. Sleek, Modern Dispensers

From compact countertop models to high-capacity freestanding units, Canteen offers a range of dispensers designed to fit any workplace layout. Each machine is designed for convenience, efficiency, and style.

3. Integrated Ice Options

Want to take it up a notch? Our water and ice dispensers give employees the flexibility to enjoy cold, refreshing drinks at any time. Whether you want nugget ice, cubed ice, or just chilled water, we can provide it.

4. Touchless Technology

We keep the health and well-being of your employees in mind. Many of Canteen’s dispensers offer touch-free options, reducing points of contact to prioritize hygiene while promoting hydration.

5. Nationwide Reach and Service

No matter where your offices are, Canteen service spans nationwide to deliver consistent water and ice solutions across multiple locations. Our service teams make sure your dispensers are installed, maintained, and operating efficiently. When you rely on our services, prioritizing sustainability doesn’t add more work to your plate.

6. Waste Reduction and Cost Savings

By replacing bottled water deliveries with dispensers, you’ll cut down on delivery emissions, reduce packaging waste, and save money over time. It’s a practical, scalable way to make environmentally-conscious decisions without sacrificing employee comfort.

Building a Culture of Sustainable Hydration

The right water and ice dispenser is the foundation of sustainable hydration. How you integrate it into workplace culture matters too. Here are strategies to maximize your impact:

• Encourage Reusable Bottles: Provide branded reusable bottles, tumblers, or cups as part of an onboarding kit or sustainability campaign.
• Educate Employees: Share information about how refill stations reduce plastic waste and carbon emissions.
• Celebrate Milestones: Track the number of bottles saved and post it in common areas.Celebrate wins like, “This office saved 10,000 plastic bottles this year!”
• Make It Fun: Display fruit-infused water recipes or water flavor combinations, initiate hydration challenges, or host themed refill days to promote the continuous use of water dispensers.
• Connect to Wellness: Highlight how hydration supports focus, mood, productivity, and energy. This ties the sustainability benefits to your employees’ personal benefits.

Beyond the Office: The Broader Impact

When companies invest in sustainable hydration solutions, the impact doesn’t stop at the office door. Employees who embrace refill habits often carry them home and into their communities. Children see their parents using reusable bottles. Friends see their peers making sustainable choices and talk about the environmental impact of this new habit. Over time, more people adopt sustainable practices and make more environmentally-conscious decisions.

And the collective results are significant. If every U.S. worker replaced just one bottled water a day with a reusable bottle refill, it could prevent billions of plastic bottles from entering the waste stream each year. According to Oceana, just a 10% increase in refillables in coastal countries could take up to 7.6 billion single-use plastic water bottles out of the oceans every year. That’s the power of scaling small actions across millions of people.

Why This Matters Right Now

Sustainability is no longer a “nice-to-have.” People have come to expect it. From climate goals to employee values, companies are under pressure to operate responsibly. Simple, tangible actions like installing water dispensers:

• Reduce measurable waste and emissions
• Improve employee satisfaction and well-being
• Strengthen your reputation as a forward-thinking, responsible employer.

As hybrid and in-person work environments continue to evolve, providing sustainable amenities like refillable water stations is an easy way to make the office a place employees want to be.

 

Workplace water dispensers may seem like a small detail in the bigger sustainability picture, but they’re one of the simplest, most effective ways to reduce waste, cut carbon, and inspire people to develop greener habits. When paired with ice options and Canteen’s nationwide service, they’re also a powerful tool for improving employee satisfaction and productivity.

At the end of the day, sustainability isn’t about sweeping, overwhelming changes. It’s all about the choices we make every day adding up to big, long-term impacts. By replacing single-use bottles with electronic water stations, your workplace takes a meaningful step toward a greener future.

Ready to sip smarter, waste less, and make sustainability second nature in your workplace? Canteen is here to help with tailored water and ice solutions that fit your team’s needs.

Get started with us today, and let’s build a more sustainable workplace together.