Here is a little followup to our earlier posts about the Pacific ocean Gyre…the huge island of trash and plastic floating in our western ocean. To do our part my family bought a Soda Stream  carbonator in an effort to save money and also reduce the number of empty plastic bottles we recycle. My family drinks a lot of fizzy water.

At the beginning of March, bottled water sales will be prohibited in Grand Canyon National Park – but retailers at the park can sell carbonated soft drinks and juice in plastic bottles and visitors can still bring them.

The park says that the waste associated with disposable bottles comprises an estimated 20% of the park’s overall waste stream and 30% of the park’s recyclables.

The Grand Canyon Park service’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.’

“Our parks should set the standard for resource protection and sustainability,” said John Wessels, regional director for Intermountain Region. “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. 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.”

“We want to minimize both the monetary and environmental costs associated with water packaged in disposable containers,” added park’s superintendent Dave Uberuaga.

The new restrictions follow the example of Utah’s Zion National Park, which launched a similar program in 2008, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which offers water stations and encourages visitors to bring their own bottles or buy a stainless steel re-?usable bottle at the Kilauea Visitors Center.

Source: Arizona Republic/?News Tribune/?Green Packs