Posted: | December 6, 2022 09:25 AM |
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From: | Representative Perry S. Warren |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Water Bottle Refilling Stations |
Plastic bottles are undoubtedly convenient. They are easily bought, used, and thrown away without a second thought. That, however, leads to many bottles finding their way onto the streets instead of recycling containers. In fact, during our community litter clean-ups, plastic water bottles are the most common waste. And, even if not the streets, the bottles often wind up in a landfill, where the chemicals in the plastic seep into the ground. Worse yet, too many bottles end up in the ocean and waterways, polluting our waters and killing marine life in the process. In order to help curb production and use of plastic bottles, I will be introducing legislation that would require newly-constructed state buildings, as well as existing state buildings undergoing renovations to their water and pipe infrastructure, to install water bottle filling stations. These stations are similar to water fountains, but have an additional nozzle above the basin that conveniently allows for the filling or refilling of any bottle with water. The ease and convenience of these stations would ultimately help reduce the use of plastic bottles by encouraging the use of reusable bottles. Further, as the Covid-19 crisis has reminded us, germs are highly transmissible in public places. A water bottle filling station is a more sanitary alternative to a traditional drinking water fountain in public buildings. Please join me in supporting this environmental and hygienic alternative to single-use plastic water bottles. |
Introduced as HB1169