Gen Juice Drinks Hubs Are Helping To Reduce Single Use Plastic

The new drinks machines allow pupils to purchase a choice of refreshing chilled drinks that are mixed to order and dispensed into pupils’ own reusable bottles. 

The school’s eco team, Planet Princethorpe, are encouraging all pupils to use the new hubs by bringing their refillable bottles to school and purchasing tokens as needed. They know that if pupils make this one small change it will reduce the single-use plastic waste at school and make a big difference in our journey toward sustainability.

After trialling different flavours, the machines are now dispensing a range of drinks that comply with the UK Government’s school food standards, use natural ingredients and are without added sugar. Each hub offers six different drinks. These include vitamin-rich drinks made with real fruit, as well as flavoured waters and juices. The flavours are rotated to provide plenty of choice and all drinks are fast-pour and deliciously chilled. 

Pupils purchase tokens to use in the machines; 70p purchases a 250ml serving, two tokens cost £1.30 and there is currently a special offer for a reusable bottle and token for £3.00. Our catering team are also planning on including the drinks as part of their meal deal options, to offer even more value every day.

Teacher in charge of Food Technology and Planet Princethorpe Joint Lead, Jacqui Scott, explains, “By promoting reusable bottles and removing the need for pre-packaged drinks, the new Gen Juice Drinks Hubs are supporting the College’s wider environmental goals as well as helping pupils develop more sustainable everyday habits. We have chosen a range of drinks products that use only natural juice, flavours and colours. They are vegan, lactose and gluten free and without aspartame. They include immune-boosting vitamins, minerals and botanicals. They provide pupils with healthy and appealing hydration options throughout the school day.”

Planet Princethorpe and the College are delighted that the change to Gen Juice has already enabled us to remove over half of our single-use plastic bottles, making a meaningful contribution to reducing waste across the school. However, we need to go further, so Planet Princethorpe hopes that parents and pupils will continue to support this initiative and the drive to eliminate the use of single-use plastics in school.