Lexic Waters – protecting the environment one bottle at a time
─Young entrepreneurs launch eco-friendly water refilling service at UG
DPI, Guyana, Monday, February 3, 2020
In 2018, University of Guyana (UG) student, Aaron George was challenged by his environmental class lecturer to reduce the number of plastic bottles he discarded for a week by using a personal water bottle.
That experiment led to Monday’s unveiling of Lexic Waters, a water refilling service at UG’s Turkeyen campus.
George told DPI that initially the 2018 challenge appeared simple but proved otherwise because in their bid to quench their thirst he and his classmates would often be tempted to purchase bottled water then throw away the containers rather than refilling their water bottles.
This led George to seriously consider a solution to this particular issue of environmental pollution. “Why not offer water refilling services?” That was the genesis of Lexic Waters.
The idea in hand, he brainstormed the concept with his colleagues. “We came up with a rough sketch in a bus of how this system should look,” George recalled.
From the birth of the idea to now, the team of now-former UG students have already established the service in four secondary schools at Leonora, Diamond, West Demerara, and Uitvlugt.
“We’re going to try to transform every student’s life by providing them access to cold purified water at a very cheap cost. Every refill reduces one plastic bottle within the environment,” George stated.
“There are three aspects to the business; the environmental aspect, the economic aspect because we will be employing persons, and the health aspect,” co-founder, Diquan Lewis stated while noting the importance of water and staying hydrated.
Lexic is bringing purified water for a fraction of the cost. Lewis stated that the price for one 500-millilitre bottle of water would be $60, which is half of the usual $120 charge at schools and other institutions. Moreover, a 1-litre refill costs $100 and a 1.5-litre refill is $140.
The water refilling services can be found at UG’s Natural Sciences building and will operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, the young entrepreneurs have plans to expand.
“Ultimately, the goal will be to eventually automate this system, just like the vending machine concept, so it will be available 24/7.”
“This is just a start in this faculty, but we have plans to put it strategically around campus,” Lewis shared.
They also hope to extend Lexic Waters to schools countrywide. George indicated that Lexic has received overwhelming support from the Ministry of Education, as they are on board for a greener economy.
“This won’t be the last you will be hearing of Lexic; we are a group of problem solvers, and with keeping the theme in mind – connect, innovate, transform – we will be coming up with a lot more innovative ventures that will ultimately be environmentally friendly, socially friendly, and provide economic opportunities,” the co-founder stated.
Lexic uses Banks DIH’s Tropical Mist Water to provide this service for quality assurance purposes as the water is tested and said to be of the highest quality purified water available locally.