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NPS Director Jarvis Allows Parks To Ban Disposable Plastic Bottles

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Those seemingly ubiquitous disposable plastic bottles, the ones that generated a storm of controversy over their proposed ban at Grand Canyon National Park, may now be banned by park superintendents nationwide.

But first superintendents must conduct a somewhat arduous series of extensive studies (see attached) that include, among other things, review of the amount of waste that could be eliminated from the park; the costs of installing and maintaining water filling stations for visitors; the resulting impact on concessionaire and cooperative association revenues, and; consultation with the Park Service's Public Health Office.

Then, too, they must consider "contractual implications" to concessionaires, the cost and availability of BPA-free reusable containers, and signage so visitors can find water filling stations. Also, they need to take into consideration safety considerations for visitors who might resort to drinking water "from surface water sources with potential exposure to disease" or who neglect to carry enough water with them on hikes.

Notice of Director Jarvis's decision on banning the bottles came Wednesday in a directive sent to all regional directors, who in turn distributed the policy memo down the line.

"Sustainability is a signature effort for the National Park Service. We must be a visible exemplar of sustainability, so it's important that we move our sustainability program forward as an organization. While superintendents need some discretion to tailor implementation to local situations, it is not the purview of any one park to set policy," wrote Director Jarvis.

The directive comes little more than a month after the director was portrayed as bowing to corporate pressure for telling Grand Canyon officials to hold off on implementing a ban on the plastic bottles. According to a string of documents and emails obtained by Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility, Director Jarvis put the ban on hold after Coca Cola officials raised concerns with the National Park Foundation, which in turn contacted the director and his staff.

At the time, Park Service officials said they weren't bowing to corporate pressure but simply conducting due diligence on the impacts of such a ban. For instance, they said at the time, how might the safety of visitors to Southwestern parks such as the Grand Canyon, Arches, and Canyonlands be impacted by a ban?

“Jon Jarvis wants to get rid of water bottles in parks. That’s the goal. We want to do this," agency spokesman David Barna told the Traveler early this month. "The issue with Grand Canyon is it’s such a big park and it sets such a big precedent."

In his directive, Director Jarvis cited the Park Service's Green Parks Plan, which has a goal of reducing waste in the parks, in part by offering water bottle refilling stations in at least 75 percent of park visitor centers by 2016, the year the agency marks its centennial. That plan currently is under final review and is expected to be released early next year, he said.

As for banning disposable plastic bottles, Director Jarvis outlined three steps superintendents must take to implement a ban:

"Complete a rigorous impact analysis including an assessment of the effects on visitor health and safety, submit a request in writing to their regional director, and receive the approval of their regional director."

In his correspondence to the field, Director Jarvis touched on the "symbolism" of banning the bottles from national parks, but also noted the potential consequences of such a move.

"Banning the sale of water bottles in national parks has great symbolism, but runs counter to our healthy food initiative as it eliminates the healthiest choice for bottled drinks, leaving sugary drinks as a primary alternative," he wrote. "A ban could pose challenges for diabetics and others with health issues who come to a park expecting bottled water to be readily available.

"For parks without access to running water, filling stations for reusable bottles are impractical. A ban could affect visitor safety; proper hydration is key to planning a safe two-hour hike or a multi-day backcountry excursion. Even reasonably priced reusable water bottles may be out of reach for some visitors, especially those with large families.

"For these reasons, the National Park Service will implement a disposable plastic water bottle recycling and reduction policy, with an option to eliminate sales on a park-by-park basis following an extensive review and with the prior approval of the regional director."

Under that policy, parks are encouraged to have "robust" recycling programs, use education to convince visitors to reduce their use of disposable plastic bottles, and, "where appropriate," institute bans on the bottles.

Operations in at least two parks, Zion and Hawaii Volcanoes, already have bottle bans in  place. At Hawaii Volcanoes, where the cooperating association decided to stop selling disposable bottles, the association estimated it will gross $80,000 a year in reusable bottle sales and will net a profit. At Zion, concessionaire Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which came up with the idea of banning disposable water bottle sales, lost $25,000 in 2009-10, according to the memo. However, the move at Zion reduced the waste stream by roughly 5,000 pounds annually and cut energy consumption in the visitor center by about 10 percent during 2009-2010.

In his directive, Director Jarvis said that parks that already have implemented bottle bans may leave them in place, but going forward must still address in writing to their regional directors the studies into the impacts of such a ban.

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Comments

Allowing bottled water to be sold at national parks is like allowing beer to be sold at an AA meeting.

Plastic in the environment is killing us all. How many thousands of sea animals die each year from eating plastic? How many humans become ill from eating these same sea animals?

Who else but the NPS to guide people to be responsible for their own hydration when visiting a park unit.

I have heard the following exchange twice in recent years at NPS visitor centers (Lone Pine, Point Reyes):

Visitor, speaking to VC staff person: "Hey, where is the bottled water?"

VC Staff (with embarrassment in voice, apologetically) "We don't sell bottled water any more, you have to go into Lone Pine/Olema to get it."

How unfortunate that this interaction was not used to explain why a reusable vessel is a much wiser and necessary choice for all involved and how you can purchase them and fill them right here.

How many times a day does this sort of dialog take place across the US?

All NPS staff need to have a positive response memorized for when visitors ask this question.

And I hope it is asked more often and soon.


"Plastic in the environment is killing us all. How many thousands of sea animals die each year from eating plastic? How many humans become ill from eating these same sea animals?" Pray tell Richard.  How many of each?


The announcement by Jarvis leaves the PWB ban at Grand Canyon as clear as mud (as usual) and shifts the focus from him to IMR director Wessels and the new grca superintendet.  As I read the documents, the acting park superintendent made it clear to WASO and IMR back in June that the park did not intend to implement the PWB ban at Grand Canyon (that had been scheduled by superintendent Martin before he "retired") and chose to provide choice and education to the public.  Thus, Mr. Uberuaga (now with explicit approval from Mr. Wessels) will now have to proactively overturn the most recent superintendent's very reasonable decision and reimplement the outright ban pushed through by Martin. (Which I contend will be mostly innefective since visitors can easily drive a few miles to Tusayan and buy all the bottled water they want.)  It really doesn't matter what coca cola said or didn't say about the bottle ban proposed by Mr. Martin, this incident just proves once again how devoid current nps managers are of any real environmental leadership. 


Simple solution all disposable
containers should have a deposit on them at least 25 cents then they
would be picked up or not thrown away.    How about
this- would you rather step on a broken glass bottle or plastic? 
I am not buying two dozen drinking bottles at 2-3 dollars each.. 
No you can't get just one and refill it, their is no place to refill,
bathroom sinks don't fit.  their are five of us and refillable
bottles are heavy and clumsy. I vist many Parks each year, I have not seen a problem.  But a decent container deposit (25-50 cents) would solve the problem nationwide.


I worked for the cooperating association at the Grand Canyon for the summer of 2011.  We voluntarily stopped selling disposable plastic water bottles and began to sell low-cost refillable green bottles.  When visitors asked to purchase bottled water, I was very happy to tell them, "Fresh, cold spring water is FREE at the Grand Canyon!" Most were delighted with this answer, and happily purchased a refillable souvenir water bottle.  Kudos to the NPS for going ahead with this important program.


Anon,
If you just GOOGLE "animals killed by plastic bottles," you'll find a large number (and variety) of websites that give stats on the hazards plastic, including plastic bottles, pose to wildlife.
 
 


Justin,  were do I Google to see the humans that have been killed by those dead animals?
His statement is typical of the eco-hysteria.  And if there is a problem with plastic in the ocean - the problem isn't the plastic - its the idiots that put it in the ocean.  There are many ways to safely recycle or dispose of plastics.  We don't need to abandon their vast benefits.


BTW Justin - an interesting article to back up my point.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/10/13/too-good-to-be...
More junk science.


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