On Feb. 11, the Morro Bay City Council voted unanimously to ban the use of city funds to purchase plastic water bottles or foam cups.
“It was a way to do our part to encourage the residents to be more conscious of preserving the environment,” said Councilman Bill Peirce.
Peirce explained that more and more plastic water bottles, despite being recyclable, are ending up in landfills.
“There’s millions of theses bottles being sold, and not many are being recycled,” he said.
Despite the city’s new strong eco-friendly stance, Peirce said that the ban wouldn’t be upheld in the case of a crisis.
“When a shelter is in an emergency, we’re not going to say, ‘Here’s your Dixie cup,'” he said.
This article appears in Feb 13-20, 2008.