A week after a campaign was mounted to encourage the National Park Service to phase bottled water out of the parks, the bottled water industry pushed back a bit, saying to do so would encourage visitors to turn to unhealthy alternatives to quench their thirsts.
In a release Tuesday the International Bottled Water Association said "(E)fforts to eliminate or reduce access to bottled water in our national parks will force consumers to choose less healthy drink options that have more packaging, more additives (e.g., sugar, caffeine), and greater environmental impacts than bottled water."
According to the group, research shows that in the absence of bottled water products, "63 percent of people will choose soda or another sugared drink – not tap water."
"We expect the same consumer response if access to bottled water is restricted in our national parks," said the group in the release. "And such a response will therefore not likely reduce the presence of plastic bottles within the recycling streams of our national parks."
Corporate Accountability International, a non-profit that works to encourage cleaner environmental habits, last week sent representatives to Yosemite National Park, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Independence Hall National Historical Park, and Mount Rainier National Park with over-sized postcards encouraging park officials to commit to phasing out bottled water.
Kristin Urquiza, who oversees the "Outside the Bottle and Public Works Compaign" for Corporate Accountability International, says more parks need to follow Zion, Hawaii Volcanoes, and Grand Canyon national parks in phasing out the sale of disposable water bottles.
To get more parks to phase-out bottled water, the non-profit has been working with stakeholders in and out of national parks, including concessionaires, "to help give Park Service (superintendents) the support they need to really move forward on implementing a 'bottled-water-free' policy in their parks," she said.
While none of the four parks has given "firm commitments" to moving forward with a ban, said Ms. Urquiza, talks have been ongoing to examine the feasibility of such a ban.
"The real exciting feedback that we've been getting is that water in the parks is an incredibly important issue for superintendents," she said. "They want to figure out how to minimize the amount of waste, to promote public water."
But the water bottlers say Americans want bottled water. "Consumers choose bottled water for several reasons, including its refreshing taste, reliable quality, zero calories and additives, and convenience," the organization said. "In fact, since 1998, approximately 73 percent of the growth in bottled water consumption has come from people switching from carbonated soft drinks, juices, and milk to bottled water.
"Banning or restricting access to bottled water in the marketplace, including within national parks, directly impacts the right of people to choose the healthiest beverage on the shelf. And for many, bottled water is a critical alternative to other packaged beverages, which are often less healthy. Bottled water must therefore be available wherever packaged beverages are sold."
The group does support ongoing efforts to "further increase the availability of clean, safe drinking water in national parks, cities, towns, on college campuses, in the work place, and at home should be encouraged. This, in fact, complements the National Park Services’ own ongoing healthy foods initiative. Bottle refilling stations and water fountains throughout national parks and communities are an excellent opportunity to help promote healthy hydration. But access to bottled water is also a key component of this effort and should not be discouraged, prohibited, or overlooked when discussing water’s role in a healthier lifestyle."
Comments
"I read somewhere the other day that bottled water is apparently falling out of favor these days."
I think that might be right, Lee. Anecdotally, there are hydration stations all over campus, which are frequently used. I rarely, if ever, see anyone drinking a purchased bottle of water.
OK Lee - so they weigh the dumpster. Do they have any idea what is in it? How much is plastic bottles? How much was bought in the park and how much outside the park?
And lets say they drop the waste by 5,000 lbs. So what. What does that accomplish relative to what it costs?
Assuming a fresh water alternative is offered in the Park, I fully support the bottled water ban idea and find it unfortunate that the bottled water industry is fighting it with mis-information such as claiming users will switch to unhealthy drinks and damage the environment more.
Bottled water has its place and is a good thing for many reasons. However it's environmental impact is dramatic so limiting its use in NPs is a positive thing. To question the environmental impact of the plastic bottles is just not realistic. I have 5 reusable containers that I have used for approx 1 decade now. To be sure, these required petroleum to be created and once discarded they will stick around for at least 1000 years. So without a doubt they have an environmental impact that will need to be dealt with. But if I stick those 5 bottles in a tub and watch them slooooooowly decay for the next 1k years, and stack that picture up against one decade of left over non-reusable water bottles....I am comparing a mountain to a mole hill. It's simply not even close. If the landfill is on my farm, I will take the 5 reusable bottles. I challenge anyone or any community to say they would rather inherit and store the mountain of bottles. Ill note that recycling the bottles is great and absolutely helps minimize the waste, but it does have its limits and the plastic can only be re-used so many times.
What is "dramatic about it? So, if not recycled, they last a long time. So does glass, rocks, and many other natural and/or man made items. Where is the "impact' and how does banning them from the parks have any material effect on that "impact"?
Why not appease everyone by continuing the sale of bottled water but keeping it behind the counter and marking its price up sky high to a level that is unaffordable to the vast majority of visitors. Any profits, assuming there were any, could be donated to the National Park Service to help pay for park operation costs.
Este Pizza in Salt Lake City serves New York style pizza and has some very strict house rules -- including no pineapple on your pizza. They have (or at least used to have -- I haven't been there since I moved away several years ago) two cans of unopened pineapple at their ordering counter, along with a sign saying that they are pleased to now offer pineapple as a topping. Each can was priced at $49.99 plus a $99.99 corkage fee -- the implication being, of course, that pineapple does not belong on real New York style pizza.
Nor do disposable plastic bottles belong in national parks. You want it, you got it, as long as you're willing to pay the real and total cost of petroleum/chemical exploration, mining/extraction, refining, manufacturing/production, advertising, transportation, marketing, disposal, etc.
And you don't think people are paying that now? You think the bottled water industry and its retailers are selling their product at a loss?
Everything helps. I've been pleased to see more separated recycling receptacles in the various parks I've visited this year. Last year when I was on the recyling committee for our local town plastics were one of our problems. Right now we are incinerating all plastics, however we were researching a machine that shreds all forms of plastic, and bales of the shredded plastic can then be sold to plastic manufacturers to lessen the need for creating new plastic. Recycling makes a lot of sense, and making the funnel into the recycling process readily open and easy to use increases the effect. Since there will probably always be fools who buy overpriced tap water in plastic bottles, if not at parks then at 7-11's, make it easy to discard the bottles into a recycling basket.
Bottled water has been around since at least the 18th century. I remember seeing TV commercials for bottled water (mostly the delivered/reusable 5 gallon jugs) back in the 70's, although the same brands were selling bottled water at retail.
From a practical point of view, I'd probably buy a soda if I forgot to bring a water bottle. I'd drink it first then refill it with tap water. I try to be conscious about proper disposal, but I doubt something like this really results in much difference in waste.