Italy has banned plastic bottles from pristine stretches of beach in the country’s northwest region Cinque Terre national park.
The park is visited by some three million tourists each year and leave behind them some two million plastic bottles that litter the beaches and pollute the ocean.
As part of the ban, tourists entering the Cinque Terre region will be encouraged to by a reusable bottle emblazoned with the park’s logo. The bottle can be filled as many times as the owner chooses from chilled water fountains that are being installed along nine miles of coastline.
The president of Cinque Terre national park, Franco Bonanini, said the ban will prevent the area from being “buried” in plastic. He empathizes with visitors who resist the price of buying a reusable bottle, but feels such practices are essential to saving the “paradise” of Cinque Terre for future visitors.
With reporting from Nick Squires of the UK Telegraph.
