Grand Canyon banning plastic water bottles sales

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, AZ - Disposable plastic water bottles soon won't be sold at the Grand Canyon.

The National Park Service announced Monday that it has approved a plan to eliminate the sale of the bottles within 30 days. They make up about 20 percent of the park's waste and 30 percent of recyclables.

Visitors can fill up reusable containers at water stations, though the ban doesn't keep them from bringing disposable bottles into the park.

Park Service director Jon Jarvis had nixed a bottle ban at the Grand Canyon in late 2010. A former park superintendent had raised suspicion that the Coca-Cola Co, a major water bottle producer, unduly influenced the Park Service. But the agency and Coca-Cola denied that.

Jarvis recently released a national policy outlining how park superintendents could institute a ban.