City installs new sustainable water bottle filling stations.
The City of Malibu and West Basin Municipal Water District unveiled two new sustainable water bottle filling stations that were recently installed at Malibu City Hall on Tuesday, May 23.
Mayor Skylar Peak and Councilmembers Laura Rosenthal and Jefferson Wagner were joined by West Basin Board Member Scott Houston and West Basin and Malibu Environmental Sustainability staff.
“Malibu prides itself on being a champion of the environment, and our lifestyle revolves around water,” Peak said.
I commend the City of Malibu for its leadership and commitment to environmental stewardship.” The billions of single-use plastic water bottles produced and disposed of are a waste of fossil fuel and contribute to plastic waste that damages the environment and wildlife.
Americans buy about 30 billion water bottles every year, making bottled water the second most-consumed beverage in the U.S., according to BantheBottle.net.
While single-use water bottles can be recycled, most are not since the nationwide average recycling rate is only about 34.6 percent, according to the US EPA.
Manufacturing bottles to meet America’s demand for bottled water consumes more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year, according to BantheBottle.net.
To encourage Malibu residents to cut down on single-use plastic water bottles, the City and West Basin are offering custom-made, insulated refillable steel water containers for free to the first 50 people who come in to City Hall, get a container, fill it with the new filling stations, and post a photo on social media with the hashtag #OneWaterMalibu.
For more information about West Basin Municipal Water District, visit www.westbasin.org.