Ex-Grand Canyon head: Bottled water ban ended after talks with Coke; Park Service says not so

[Wilms]

Ex-Grand Canyon head: Coke talks ended bottle ban

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz.

A plan to ban the sale of plastic water bottles at the Grand Canyon was scrapped after talks with Coca-Cola, which is a donor to the national parks system and a bottled water distributor, a former park superintendent who worked on the plan said.

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"Both the paper record is there for how widespread the understanding of what we were doing was, and the approvals," he said. "That's what makes it so extraordinary. Right as we're moving to the finish line on a really excellent program, because of Coke' s influence, it was scuttled."

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The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which sought to discover the reason the ban was halted through public records requests, sued the Park Service and the foundation on Thursday, alleging the groups unlawfully withheld documents or failed to respond. Executive director Jeff Ruch said Jarvis' decision to reverse the ban is "highly questionable."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ex-grand-canyon-head-bottled-water-ban-ends-after-talks-with-coke-park-service-says-not-so/2011/11/10/gIQAGaNj9M_story.html

[JDPriestly]

1. They could sell Coke in paper cups at an old-fashioned soda pump.

I see them in restaurants. They could put them in the souvenir stores.

[piratefish08]

2. you're confusing Coke with a company that gives a fuck about anything but profit......

[Javaman]

6. +1000!

Coca-Cola and Water Use in India: "Good Till the Last Drop"
http://scienceblogs.com/primatediaries/2010/03/coca-cola_in_india_good_till_t.php

CommonsThe marketing executive who came up with Coca-Cola's popular slogan in 1908 most likely never expected it would be taken so literally. However, a hundred years ago there probably weren't many who imagined a term like "water wars" could exist in a region that experiences annual monsoons.

On February 25 a complaint was filed in the New York Supreme Court against the The Coca-Cola Company alleging that they knew about and sought to cover up human rights abuses in Guatemala. While that trial gets started, the company's controversial practices in India continue involving the over-exploitation of limited water resources and the contamination of groundwater supplies. In response to public outcry the soft drink company is now championing itself as a longtime environmental leader and the business community is eager to advertise their claim. Yesterday CNN Money reported that:

Coke has been a leader when it comes to environmental issues: It is aiming to be water neutral -- meaning every drop of water used by the company will be replenished -- by 2020.

This would come as a surprise to the Plachimada community in the State of Kerala. Ever since Coca-Cola opened a bottling plant on their land in 2000 they have been faced with chronic drought and polluted water. In 2006 these residents of a small impoverished community in southern India began a pitched campaign to evict Coca-Cola from their land which led to fierce battles with local authorities.

More at link...

[Shagbark Hickory]

3. Money talks, Bullshit walks.

Although I must say banning water bottles in a place like the grand canyon... where you can very easily kinda die if you don't have enough water with you, doesn't sound like the best of ideas.
I do a lot of hiking and the overwhelming majority of bottle litter that I see is beer bottles and cans and soda.
And besides the new plastic bottles they're putting water in these days practically disintegrate if you look at them funny.

Would make sense to ban soda bottles and beer but water... lets see how the beer and soda goes over first.

[MADem]

4. Ban or no ban, people would just bring in their own.

The focus should be on education and recycling, not bans.

A biodegradable bottle should be the next big thing.

[Sedona]

5. Water is an important commodity in a high altitude arid environment

(see where Sedona is on a map, trust me I know this.

For 100 plus years tourists at the 8000 ft elevation park in the middle of a desert survived without plastic bottles of water.

Its called a canteen! How can Coke not see the jobs that can be created selling water to the retailers in bulk and selling the reusable aluminum or steel bottles for an extra buck or three? Retool an aluminum canning plant and use it for all the state and national parks. Win/Win for everyone. Duh!