Update: Plastic Water Bottle Ban Approved in Grand Canyon National Park

Photo by Whit Richardson

Updated: 2/21/12

By March 6, 2012 the Grand Canyon National Park will no longer sell disposable plastic water bottles. Instead visitors are encouraged to use reusable bottles and the free water bottle filling stations throughout the park. The plastic bottle ban, approved by the National Park Service on February 6, 2012, is in an effort to reduce waste in the park. An estimated 20% of the park’s waste stream and 30% of the park’s recycling is comprised entirely of plastic bottles. Read the full release from NPS.gov.

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of Zion National Park, which implemented a ban of plastic bottle sales within the park in 2008, the Grand Canyon National Park is proposing a similar ban for 2012. This is the second year the park has fought to ban the sale of plastic bottles; in 2011 the director of the National Parks Service, Jon Jarvis, prevented the ban over concern of the livelihood of concessionaires and fear that parkgoers would not stay hydrated in the Grand Canyon’s seasonally scorching temperatures, according to The New York Times. It is also rumored that bottling behemoth Coca-Cola had a hand in preventing the ban in the Grand Canyon.

For the ban to go into effect this year, the Grand Canyon, and any other interested national park, will have to comply with a detailed checklist released by Director Jarvis last week. The checklist includes an impact analysis on revenue and waste as well as providing plentiful hydration options to replace plastic bottles, reports PlasticsNews.com.