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SLO council considering water bottle ban

December 29, 2016

The San Luis Obispo City Council is set to discuss the possibility of adopting a San Francisco-style ban on single-use plastic water bottles.

In February, the council voted 4-1 to direct city staff to craft an ordinance banning the sale of single-use water bottles at city events. City staffers have yet to draft the ordinance. Rather, they are asking the council to conduct a study session on Tuesday in which it will review possible water bottle ordinances.

During the study session, council members will listen to a report about a 2014 ban enacted by San Francisco, as well as some similar regulations that other cities have adopted. The San Francisco ban prohibits the sale and distribution of single-use plastic bottles on city property.

In addition to being limited to city property, the San Francisco ban only applies to plastic water bottles that are 21 ounces or less. Additionally, the ordinance exempts athletic competitions and events with fewer than 100 attendees.

Other cities that have similar bans include Belmont, Calif.;  Seattle and Toronto. Most of the bans only affect the use and sale of water bottles on city property. They also encourage cities to make more drinking water available in public places by adding fountains and water bottle filling stations.

Chicago has  implementing a 5 cent tax on the retail sale of plastic and glass water bottles, according to a SLO staff report.

City staffers say CalRecycle estimates that more than 13 million bottles were purchased in San Luis Obispo during the 2015-2016 fiscal year and only 41 percent were recycled. Statewide, 3 billion plastic bottles annually end up as litter or in landfills, according to CalRecycle.

The SLO City Council will convene for its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The discussion on possible water bottle ordinances is near the end of the agenda.


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it does sound ridiculous but anyone who has collected garbage, anywhere, knows that the plastic bottle caps are everywhere.

the reason they even consider an outright ban is because of the stupidity of the people.


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Give me a break. Don’t they really have anything better to do do? Is this one of the reasons that they constantly cry about being overworked and underpaid. So let’s hire a consultant to analyze this. Well $10,000 to $20,000 dollars later they will come up with something that they will approve for the good of the world. And like similar things like this it will be ignored and there will be no backbone to enforce any violation of what they come with.

You have to just love government and their ability to waste our money and their time.


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Has the SLO city council ever had an original thought, they seem to be content to ride the coat tails of San Francisco. Seriously try to thinking about your voting, tax paying citizens and stop copy catting extreme liberalism.

Personally we have a reverse osmosis water filtering system and about ten refillable bottles. We leave full ones in the car at all times and then take an extra one with us. Same water you are getting in a bottle, you can get an RO system for around $200.

And oh by the way the little plastic cups for all your coffee machines are just as big a problem as plastic water bottles. How many of you liberals are using Keurig machines? Gotta love hypocrisim


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Put wine in disposable plastic bottles and this nonsense goes away over night.


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Oh poor us, can you image having to pour water into a second container to filter it, then pouring it into a third and lugging it around. What a travesty.


If you don’t like the taste of tap water get one of those filter pitchers such as Britta. It would pay for its self if your water source is from plastic bottles.

If only 50% of the bottles are redeemed increase the CRV to 25 cents or 50 cents, that way people will more likely to recycle them. There are two recycling centers in SLO I know of. I use the Britta pitcher, and refill Nathan bottles with it, just a matter of getting use to doing it. I always carry extra water in my car,back pack ect, been doing this for ten years. Cal Poly has a bottle refilling station near one of the stadiums, which filters and does all kinds of healthy stuff to the water so it doesn’t taste tappy. Plastic bottles are everywhere, I was walking down near S Higuera where the 101 crosses, and looked down in the creek and saw plastic bottles littered in the creek, I was thinking what a shame. That was about a week ago.


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Can’t believe that people missed the biggest ban of all, that surpasses all of these!! It happened secretly some years ago. It happened amongst all of our politicians at the city, county, state and federal level. It was the common sense ban and it has been quite successful.


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Thanks SLO city… I am glad you have solved all the other city problems and now you have gotten to the next important issue, the water bottle in my hand.


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Like we really want to drink the crap, sewer tasting water from your fountains. No recycling centers? Really stupid. SLO is quickly becoming Santa Cruz south. Morons.


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Why not simply use reusable containers rather than disposable bottles? it’s simply a matter of retraining ourselves much like the use of reusable bags to carry or groceries.

If we would do these sorts of things voluntarily, then the city council (who’s got so many other important issues that need to be addressed) would not consider a ban.


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Apparently, not too many people here seem to be as eager to comply as you are ready to be!


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Especially one of those ever-so-sexy, supposedly eco-friend STAINLESS STEEL bottles, right?


Remain ignorant of the resources and waste that goes into making one — particularly those fabricated in sweat shops in China and elsewhere. Continue to vilify reusable, non-toxic bottles made of polymers that will last as long as the vaunted STAINLESS STEEL bottles, while having far less of an impact on the environment.


If you ever treat yourself to a sports drink, jut keep refilling the bottle for a few months with water until your next one. They’re light, non-toxic, seal well and recyclable — presuming there is a place to recycle them locally.


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