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National Parks Being Lobbied To Do Away With Bottled Water, Install Filling Stations

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A lobbying effort is under way to get more national parks to phase-out bottled water in favor of reusable water bottles and water-filling stations, such as this one at Arches National Park. Kurt Repanshek photo.

It's been more than a year since bottled water and corporate America collided at Grand Canyon National Park, and the push continues to get more national parks to phase out packaged water in favor of fresh tap water and refillable bottles.

Next week National Park Service officials at Yosemite and Mount Rainier national parks, Independence Hall National Historical Park, and Golden Gate National Recreation Area will be presented with over-sized postcards urging them to phase out disposable water bottles.

At Corporate Accountability International, a non-profit that works to encourage cleaner environmental habits, officials intend to make March 27 a "national day of action ... in a heated battle between those who are fighting to get billions of plastic bottles out of our waste stream, and Coca-Cola (owner of Dasani), who is throwing hurdles in the way of those parks that want to become bottled water free."

Coca-Cola rose to the limelight back in November 2011 when an email trail seemed to indicate the beverage maker was pressuring the National Park Foundation to urge the Park Service not to ban disposable water bottles at Grand Canyon National Park. 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?

Ultimately, Grand Canyon officials, who had installed water filling stations early in 2011, were able to phase-out bottled water and put to use filling stations they had installed

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.

At the same time, she was critical of an extensive memorandum (attached below) Park Service Director Jon Jarvis sent out to his superintendents in the wake of the Grand Canyon uproar that directed the steps they would need to take to phase-out bottled water. That memo called for superintendents to, among other things, review the amount of waste that could be eliminated from their park; consider the costs of installing and maintaining water filling stations for visitors; review the resulting impact on concessionaire and cooperative association revenues, and; consult 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.

"That is a clear indication of how Coke, stepping in, really is putting pressure on the Park Service to make it much more difficult for additional parks to follow suit," maintained Ms. Urquiza during a phone conservation. "Coke and the other bottlers, Nestle and Pepsi, there were several conference calls that were organized with Park Service employees and representatives from the big bottlers, asking them to put a hiatus on additional bans, and really working to stop this from happening in additional places."

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."

The organization plans to organize efforts this fall in Washington, D.C., to lobby the Park Service to hold firm to its original plan of having refillable water stations in 75 percent of park visitor centers by 2016, while encouraging parks to discontinue the sale of disposable bottled water.

On March 27, next Wednesday, the non-profit hopes superintendents at Yosemite, Mount Rainier, Independence Hall, and Golden Gate will commit to moving forward with a ban of disposable water bottles. "Our hope is that the superintendents can make a public commitment to implementing bottled-water-free policies," Ms. Urquiza said. "We're really hopeful, and see this as a win-win for parks.

"... At the end of the day, it's really sending the wrong message for our national parks to be promoting bottled water," she added.

At least one reusable bottlemaker, Vapur, has been talking with national parks about installing water-filling stations for visitors. Company officials, however, have declined to discuss what progress they're making.

Comments

David,

It would be interesting to see those written submissions where plastic bottles have been banned. I don't see how the economics could come down in favor of banning vs some other alternative, perhaps even including doing nothing.

And yes, economics is the "only part" in my consideration as I see no other justifiable reason to ban them. And at least I am honest enough to say so. Many others here have their own personal agendas but aren't willing to admit it and are trying to hide behind unsupportable economic arguments.


My first experience with the water bottle filling stations was at Zion and I thought it was awesome. I'd love to see it in all NPs. There is no need to sell bottled water at NPs when this much better option is made available. There is absolutely no reason it is needed. Just like when we were kids and drank out of the yard hose - we didn't need bottled water then and we don't need it now. If it means that much to some people, they are absolutely allowed to bring it on the park. No one's rights are getting stomped on here. I also think it would be great if nps made it mandatory to only sell products within the parks that are made in USA. But I assume there would be a similar uproar about that idea too; interpreted by some to be the nps trying to tell them how to live, rather than it being viewed as conservative or patriotic which is how I view it.


There is absolutely no reason it is needed.

Here we go with the "need" argument again. There are a lot of things we don't "need". Heck we don't "need" national parks. They are something we want, something we enjoy but certainly not "needed". Does that mean we should shut them down? And who is to be the arbiter of what is "needed"? You? Some Washington bureaucrat? Obviously some individuals think they do need (want) bottled water as they shell out premiums dollars for it when free tap water is within arms reach. What right do you have to deny them that opportunity?


Isn't saying something like: "No Kurt, the clammer here isn't about the economics, it is anti-corporate, anti-oil, environmental extremism." Just another way of reciting the mantra we hear so often around here: "Mulitply, muliply and pillage the Earth."

And Mtnliving is exactly correct when he asks: "EC - Since you're so fond of challenging others to produce sources and facts, how about you citing the actual revenue the NPS received from those sales of water by concessioners?" Let's see the numbers.

Ah but then I see that you've posted that you cannot provide them. Hmmmmmmm.

Y'know, just about as much energy has been wasted trying to get EC nailed down to some facts instead of rapidly shifting arguments based entirely on his opinions only as it takes to produce a whole slug of plastic bottles. Wanna bet that if everyone just ignored him, the fun he obtains from reactions to his rants would be lost and he'd just go away?


Ah but then I see that you've posted that you cannot provide them. Hmmmmmmm.

And never claimed I could. Nor have I based any statement on that number. The only time I have asked for people to produce sources or facts is when they have made specific claims. Like yours, that bottled water was a "scam". You never did explain that one.


Here's the only explanation needed: Bottled water is a scam based on a manufactured need created by advertising. Now let's see you explain exactly why it's not.

After you fail to do that, I'll follow my own advice and ignore whatever you pop up with.


What right do you have to deny them that opportunity?

Noone is denying anyone the opportunity to buy bottled water. If you want to argue that the parks are denying one the opportunty to buy it at the parks, well, the parks would then be denying one the opportunity to buy a lot of things one might want.


You need to look up the definition of scam. " A fraudelent business scheme, swindle*.

Where's the fraud? Where's the swindle?

An overwhelming portion of our economy is based on "manufactured need created by advertising". Is our entire economy a scam? Are cars a "scam"? Are smartphones a "scam"? People know exactly what they are buying when they buy bottled water and they do it willingly.

*American Heritage Dictionary


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