San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is launching a war on plastic water bottles. Starting this week, single-use plastic water bottles are no longer being sold at the airport. The new ban includes both vendors and vending machines.
If you want to quench your thirst with H2O, you’ll have two options. You can purchase water in recyclable aluminum, recyclable glass or compostable packaging, or you can fill a reusable container at an airport hydration station. Approximately 100 of them are scattered throughout the terminals. For the location of stations, consult the interactive map.
The hydration stations are part of the airport’s initiative to become the world’s first zero-waste airport by 2021. It’s a bold move and one that’s good for the environment considering one bottle can take 450-1,000 years to biodegrade.
Touch-free, sensor-operated hydration stations are located throughout San Francisco International Airport. Photo courtesy of FlySFO.com
Safe and Pure Water
Now, you’ll find some of the purest, safest and best-tasting water in the world at SFO, according to the airport. Hydration station water comes from pristine Sierra snowmelt from a reservoir in Yosemite National Park and from two protected watersheds in the Bay Area. It will make you thankful that you’ve forgotten bottled water and those high prices you paid for it.
Saying Goodbye to Lots of Waste
An interactive map shows you where to find the most convenient water fill-up spots.
Cover image of plastic bottles by Willfried Wende from Pixabay
Wonderful. So after all the years of encouraging people to drink water and decrease their sugar consumption, now if you want to pick up something quick to stay hydrated on your next flight, it will have to be a bottle of sugar water. No, I’m not going to buy an expensive, reusable water bottle that I don’t have space for in my luggage. And I really have to wonder about the taste of the water at these “hydration stations”. Is this simple city tap water (that in most places reeks of chlorine and other additives) or is it actually filtered… Read more »
Terrific idea, I’m all for it. But I would be very concerned about what you might “pick up” at these hydration stations. Cruise ships post, for instance, that their water dispensers should not be used to fill personal containers. I assume they’re worried about transferring germs and bacteria. Hopefully I’m wrong to worry.
over priced flavored water still in plastic ?