GRAND CANYON—The National Parks Traveler is reporting that National Parks Service director Jarvis is allowing parks to ban plastic water bottles after allegations that Coca-Cola company pressured a reversal of the decision for the Grand Canyon.
Coca-Cola manufactures the Dasani® water product. The Dasani® water web site begins with a commercial on their eco-friendly bottle.
The decision to ban water bottles at the Grand Canyon and subsequent reversal seems to have caused such a flurry that it led to this new decision. The new decision allows park superintendents to ban water bottles after severe considerations.
“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,” the National Park Traveler reports.
“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.”
There are trash cans around the park and it is disgusting that we have callous, uncaring idiots that are even allowed to drive. Trash on the side of the road seems to have become a fact of life in Arizona as a whole. There is nothing wrong with jailing anyone for 180-days or hitting their pocket book heavily for littering to begin with.
Even barring a discussion of the fact that the Constitution does not allow a National Parks Service to even exist, there is another piece of trash that needs to be removed from the Grand Canyon, as well. A sign proclaiming it to be a “World Heritage Site.” There is nothing inside the United States that belongs to anyone except the citizens of that State.
The “Grand Canyon State” of Arizona owns the Grand Canyon. In particular, the County of Coconino. Trash will always be a problem when it is allowed to be posted in the park.