Posted on 02/07/2012 5:54:01 AM PST by SJackson
(Grand Canyon, AZ) - Grand Canyon National Park will eliminate the in-park sale of water packaged in individual disposable containers within 30 days under a plan approved Monday by National Park Service (NPS) Intermountain Regional (IMR) Director John Wessels. Free water stations are available throughout the park to allow visitors to fill reusable water bottles.
The park’s plan calls for the elimination of the sale of water packaged in individual disposable containers of less than one gallon, including plastic bottles and various types of boxes. The waste associated with disposable bottles comprises an estimated 20 percent of the park’s overall waste stream and 30 percent of the park’s recyclables.
Grand Canyon National Park’s plan was submitted and approved in accordance with the policy issued by NPS Director Jonathan B. Jarvis on December 14, 2011. Under the policy, parks are directed to implement a disposable plastic water bottle recycling and reduction policy, with an option to eliminate in-park sales – with the approval of the park’s regional director – following a thorough analysis of a variety of factors ranging from the cost to install water filling stations, to the cost and availability of BPA-free reusable containers, to potential effects on public safety.
Regional Director Wessels said, “Our parks should set the standard for resource protection and sustainability. Grand Canyon National Park has provided an excellent analysis of the impacts the elimination of bottled water would have, and has developed a well-thought-out plan for ensuring that the safety, needs and comfort of visitors continue to be met in the park," he said. "I feel confident that the impacts to park concessioners and partners have been given fair consideration and that this plan can be implemented with minimal impacts to the visiting public," Wessels added.
Grand Canyon National Park has experienced increasing amounts of litter associated with disposable plastic bottles along trails both on the rim and within the inner canyon, marring canyon viewpoints and visitor experiences.
“We want to minimize both the monetary and environmental costs associated with water packaged in disposable containers,” said Grand Canyon Superintendent Dave Uberuaga. “We are grateful to the Director for recognizing the need for service-wide guidance on this issue and for providing a thoughtful range of options.”
“A lot of careful thought went into this plan and its implementation,” said Director Jarvis. “I applaud Grand Canyon National Park for its efforts to reduce waste and the environmental impacts created by individually packaged water. This is another example of The National Park Service’s commitment to being an exemplar of the ways we can all reduce our imprint on the land as we embrace sustainable practices that will protect the parks for generations to come.”
Read more: KCSG Television - Grand Canyon National Park to Eliminate Sale of Water in Disposable Containers
Maybe they should just cut attendance by 20%? /sarc.
This is a good move in my opinion.
If people weren’t generally ‘trashy’ and took out what they brought in, this wouldn’t be necessary.
Having walked a lot of miles in National Forests I can tell you the “Leave no trace behind” concept is hard for some to grasp.
Some will carry a plastic water bottle a few miles into the woods - drink it - and then just drop it beside the trail.
And don’t get me started on steel cans and glass bottles in fire pits.
I’m no libby tree hugger but damn folks carry out your trash.
Maybe they will sell Nalgene bottles. And people will use them once for their visit and then toss them.
PC run utterly amok.
I agree.
I was there in 2010 and while it was pretty clean, I still saw the occasional water battle or other trash laying around. I don't understand who does this. I suspect this really won't have much affect on the trash left behind as people will just pack it in and leave it anyway.
This will save on trash volume but kill tourists, as inadequately prepared hikers who can't buy last minute water bottles hit the trail with insufficient water and an assumption that they will be fine since it's a cool day. I imagine the Obama Administration considers that a net win.
That’s just brilliant. I guess they don’t care that visitors will be dropping from dehydration on the trails in the summertime because they couldn’t buy a stinkin’ bottle of water for their hike.
“Free water stations are available throughout the park to allow visitors to fill reusable water bottles.”
Stupidity is a person’s right I guess should they choose to head out without water.
It’s kind of interesting when you long-distance hike. You’ll find an inner circle that’s about as far in as lazy folks will go, and the trash extends from there to the road. You hardly need a map to know that you’re coming close to a trailhead. Fortunately, these folks generally don’t get too far into the back country, as their laziness to carry trash out generally extends to their laziness to walk too far.
That kind of mentality has pretty much destroyed the Appalachian Trail. As most of it is within the reaches of roads and towns, it’s become one long trash line from Georgia to Maine.
I ended my volunteerism with the NPS when the idiots made me register my Civil War single shot black powder pistol just so I could perform living history at a park.
This pushes one of my buttons.
Many of us are of an environmental-preservation mindset - but we are not "Environmentalists" as defined by society at large. Reduce pollution? carry out your trash? preserve wilderness? minimal impact? green power? heck yeah! To the detriment of humanity? in accordance with Leftist principles? no way!
We need a term which captures the essence of "right-wing environmentalism" without invoking watermelons.
I agree. I use a Camelback waterpack and haul in my own. Folks should probably bring a Katadyn or MSR filter if they need more and just process it from streams and lakes on the trail if necessary.
I prefer the term “Conservation”.
You can bring refillable bottles. There are water stations to fill the bottles. We were just at the Grand Canyon last summer and this is what we did.
My boys and I did a 14 mile overnight hike in the smoky mountains. The first 3 was fairly well traveled and clean. I don’t recall seeing any trash.
At about mile 3 a few pieces started to appear. I picked up some on the way back out but was pretty beat so the single tennis show laying in the middle of the trail is probably still there.
So they’re not gonna sell water, but are they going to sell Coca Cola and Gatorade????????????????
But the trails in Grand Canyon are not low-impact areas. You're gonna see litter.
And this does nothing to alleviate those who bring in the bottled water in their cars, which I imagine are a lot of the visitors.
I just see this as PC run amok while ignoring the issue of folks getting dehydrated while hiking. Put a deposit and stamp on the water bottles sold in the park and folks will bring them to you if they are left by the trail. If a bottle by the trail wasn't sold by the park, this regulation wouldn't have had any effect anyway.
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