Big changes are afoot that impact Hawaii visitors and residents alike. The state hopes to reduce single-use plastics drastically.
Big changes are afoot that impact Hawaii visitors and residents alike. The state hopes to reduce single-use plastics drastically.
What about those of us who cannot drink tap water? I am allergic to the dissolved Sulphur in our water.
Do you have access in your area to a water refill vending machine? Or water delivery service? You could get your water there or have it delivered and use a glass. Please look at the bigger picture of all of the single use bottle waste. The plastic companies produce way more plastic than what can be recycled. Also, drinking out of plastic regularly is not good for you as plastic leaches chemicals into the water you are drinking.
You can still buy bottled water, just something larger you can fill your personal glass or jug from.
Not having single serve water bottles sold in Hawaii would help reduce recycling tremendously.
On Kauai, the water tastes terrific right out of the tap.
Good move if they follow thru on banning single use water bottles!
Missouri resident here, what a great move!!! Don’t stop there, the large beverage producers could easily switch back to glass containers. For those of us growing up in the 1960’s and 1970’s, most of our beverages were bottled in glass containers. Plastic was a cheap and convenient replacement, however 50 years later, it was certainly the wrong decision.
Glass by the pool in Hawaii…what could go wrong?
Seriously. Please look at the bigger picture. You could use a reusable plastic cup.
There are several reasons the industry moved away from reusable glass bottles. The first is that after the sale to the consumer, no one knows what the consumer used the bottle for, and if a wash is sufficient to clean it. The second is that the bottle needed to be made of heavier duty glass, and all that heavy glass needed to be transported, and it was energy intensive. The third is that lighter containers allowed longer transport and consolidating bottling plants for greater efficiency.
So what are the alternatives?
Recent trip to Germany. Everywhere we went had cardboard boxes for water – like milk cartons in varying sizes.
Ban cigarettes, I visted Honolulu, everything thrown on the ground goes where?
There was no plastic bottles when I grew up !! The world was a better place then. Glass bottles are the best!use them again and again.
That is the best news ever! It should have happened years ago.
Mahalo for sharing such good news!
This is all complicated. It takes 71,000 uses for a cloth grocery bag to offset its environmental cost (two decades of daily use!) Soda can recycling uses more energy than the newest soda can technology – especially when you add in the transportation costs of recycling (soda companies kept that secret in order to avoid any laws prohibiting cans.) Oceans and sea life have been and are being destroyed at massive scale by fishing fleets – yet we restrict individual consumers since they are the easy targets with no lobbyists to bribe politicians on their behalf. So, yes, I want a clean environment – I just dislike that the worst offenders are ignored because they are wealthy – and we pay the costs instead.
Agree all the plastic is an issue. When I was a child, and that was a while ago, everything was in glass and we paid a deposit. The deposit was refunded when the bottle was returned. If you replaced the milk, soft drinks, etc, no deposit was needed, it was an exchange. Didn’t read in the article about glass use except it takes more energy to make. Maybe going back to an “old” system could work.
Banning plastic water bottles, just like plastic bags and straws isn’t the issue. The real problem is the commercial fishing industry. There are numerous articles and statistics that show that is the biggest problem but the lobbyists and industry have too much money and clout. Politicians pander to them and the result is rising costs to consumers in the form of paying for reusable bags at the store, paying for paper bags, or using paper straws that disintegrate in the beverage. We need to change the fishing industry. All the plastic trash in the ocean are discarded nets.
Great news! Sooner the Bettah! Please spread the Aloha everywhere. It would be nice to see everyone use more water filtration systems, personal reusable bottles (non plastic), and perhaps refill stations, throughout the country! As a paddler I even see bottles in small lakes and rivers and regardless causes pollution!