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Mount Rainier National Park poised to ban sales of bottled water

The disposable plastic water bottle is known for clogging landfills and choking marine life. As a result, 14 national parks no longer sell bottled water. And it looks like Mount Rainier National Park might be next.

A group called ‘Think outside the bottle’ is behind the campaign. They’re advocates for healthy public water systems, which they say are undermined by corporate sales of bottled water.

They rallied recently in Seattle and met with the Superintendent of Mt Rainer National Park, Randy King. He says he likes the idea of encouraging the use of tap water and refillable containers instead of disposable ones.

“I think in concept we’re supportive of anything that can reduce our impact on the environment. So that’s part of what we try to do is use best practices and set a good example here within the national park,” King says.

But there are some practicalities to work out. King says he needs to make sure the park can provide ample opportunities for visitors to get water.

“And to be able to refill re-useable water bottles here at the park. So we’ve started actually installing some fill stations in a couple of locations where it was difficult to find a place to fill a bottle,” King says.

He says they put a fill station in the new visitor center at Paradise, but they’re still figuring out where to put them at Longmire and Sunrise. The historic buildings and cold temps there can make that trickier than you might think. He says they’re also working with their concessioner to make sure they’re able to offer low cost reusable bottles for sale in the park’s gift shops.

Here's the list of the national parks that have already banned bottled water sales:

  • ·Arches National Park, UT
  • ·Aztec Ruins National Monument, NM
  • ·Big Thicket National Preserve, TX
  • ·Canyonlands National Park, UT
  • ·Dinosaur National Monument, CO & UT
  • ·El Malpais National Monument, NM
  • ·El Morro National Monument, NM
  • ·Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
  • ·Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, MT
  • ·Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, HI
  • ·Little Bighorn National Monument, MT
  • ·Saguaro National Park, AZ
  • ·Timpanogos Cave National Monument, UT
  • ·Zion National Park, UT
Bellamy Pailthorp covers the environment for KNKX with an emphasis on climate justice, human health and food sovereignty. She enjoys reporting about how we will power our future while maintaining healthy cultures and livable cities. Story tips can be sent to bpailthorp@knkx.org.