If there’s any item more emblematic of our pollution crisis, it’s the plastic bottle. We can all see it in our minds: landfills overflowing with little plastic bottles once handed out at sports games, concerts, and birthday parties.
The good news is, institutions across the country have joined in a progressive movement to limit or ban the use of plastic bottles. This month, the Los Angeles Convention Center joined them by instating a ban on plastic bottles as part of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s goal to eliminate plastic bottles throughout city-owned facilities.
Where plastic bottles were once sold at the center, reusable aluminum bottles will now be available for purchase along with 21 Hydration Stations where visitors can refill on water for free. “Eliminating plastic water bottles at the LA Convention Center is an important milestone in addressing climate change, reducing waste, and meeting Mayor Garcetti’s ambitious goals in L.A.’s Green New Deal,” said Doane Liu, the City’s Chief Tourism Officer and Executive Director of the City Tourism Department.
So far, it’s estimated that this new change has saved more than 150,000 plastic bottles from being used and discarded, and the future is only looking brighter. With LA hosting the 2028 Olympics in just a few short years, motions like these are signaling a big change in how events are hosted moving forward.
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