It’s no surprise that professional athletes drink a lot of water, especially in the heat and humidity of North Carolina’s summers. While hydrating is important, the source for that hydration was becoming a concern for Courage players Kaleigh Kurtz and Dani Weatherholt with the number of plastic water bottles being used.
“We use a ridiculous amount of plastic water bottles, especially on road trips. I noticed people weren’t refilling their bottles from a fountain because there wasn’t one easily accessible. I wanted to try and eliminate some of that plastic waste,” Kurtz told NCCourage.com.
There are several refill stations around WakeMed Soccer Park; however, there wasn’t one conveniently located for players in the locker room area. The easy thing for players and staff who were doing recovery, film sessions or other post-training activities, was to simply grab a new plastic water bottle.
The pair of NWSL veterans approached the Town of Cary, who own and operate WakeMed Soccer Park, with a simple solution: a water bottle filling station in the locker room area. Their forward-thinking request for sustainable action led to an easily accessible station in the main hall of the locker room area, convenient for both the Courage on a day-to-day basis and for the visitors on match days.
It has already saved over 550 plastic water bottles.
“I have noticed that so many of the girls are refilling their bottles and not just grabbing a plastic one because there is actually a fountain there now, whereas before there wasn’t one close by,” Weatherholt said.
Both Kurtz and Weatherholt are big advocates of sustainable practices and one of the ways that takes shape for Kurtz is the large water bottle she can always be spotted with on road trips.
“Sustainability is a big part of my life. I got into it more post-college and seeing how many single-use things we use on the road was kind of destroying me. For me, I didn’t want to change it for everyone else, but if I started to do it and it started to trickle down, that’s great,” Kurtz said.
For both players, these sustainability efforts are a chance to lead by example.
“I have noticed that when one person does it, other people start to catch on and do it as well. We live in a world so focused on convenience, so it is just about being intentional and taking an extra moment,” Weatherholt said.
This kind of effort from the players brings a whole new meaning to refreshment.
