International Bottled Water Association | MEDIA RELEASE | December 17, 2015
IBWA applauds Congress for requiring NPS to justify policy keeping bottled water from national park visitors
Alexandria, VA – The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) today released the following statement recognizing Congress’s concerns about a misguided policy that allows national parks to ban the sale of bottled water in plastic containers. This 2011 National Parks Service (NPS) directive allows park units to ban the sale of bottled water, while continuing to sell beverages in other plastic containers, such as soda and sports drinks.
“IBWA commends Congress for requiring the National Park Service (NPS) to provide the facts about how it justifies banning the sale of bottled water in U.S national parks, a policy that takes away from park visitors the healthiest packaged beverage alternative. In addition to being the healthiest package beverage consumers can choose, bottled water has the smallest environmental footprint of any package beverage.
IBWA is confident a report detailing the data individual national parks used to ban the sale of bottled water will lead to the conclusion that such bans provide no benefit to park visitors. NPS has indicated that the 18 national parks that have eliminated sales of bottled water are not tracking the impacts of those bans as directed. IBWA welcomes a dialog with NPS about encouraging recycling of all types of beverage containers and ending its one-sided bottled water sales ban policy. On behalf of those who want to choose a healthy lifestyle and bottled water, IBWA will continue to support their right to have access to water in all forms.
More information about bottled water can be found at www.bottledwater.org.”
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Media Contact:
Jill Culora
jculora@bottledwater.org
703.647.4609
The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is the authoritative source of information about all types of bottled waters, including spring, mineral, purified, artesian, and sparkling. Founded in 1958, IBWA’s membership includes U.S. and international bottlers, distributors and suppliers. IBWA is committed to working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates bottled water as a packaged food product, to set comprehensive and stringent standards for safe, high-quality bottled water products.
In addition to FDA regulations, IBWA member bottlers must adhere to the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice, which mandates additional standards and practices that in some cases are more stringent than federal and state regulations. A key feature of the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice is a mandatory annual plant inspection by an independent, third-party organization.
IBWA is proud to be a partner with Keep America Beautiful and a supporter of Drink Up, an initiative of former First Lady Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which encourages Americans to drink more water more often – whether from the tap, a filter, or in a bottle. Choosing water is always the healthy choice.
