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Filed Under:Ban, Barbara Taylor, Board of Supervisors, Bottles, David Chiu, Environmentalists, Eric Mar, Industry, Plastic, Proposal, San Francisco, Water
Worker drinks a bottle of water while working outdoorsWorker drinks a bottle of water while working outdoors. (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— San Francisco Supervisor David Chiu’s plastic water bottle ban proposal was heard before a Board of Supervisors’ committee Monday. It’s now a step closer to becoming law and will be considered by the full board on March 4th.

The proposal, co-sponsored by Supervisor Eric Mar, would ban water sales in plastic bottles in sizes less than 21 ounces inside city buildings beginning in October, as well as at outside events where alternative water sources are available, by 2016.

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Chiu had previously said that the law is necessary to eliminate the excess waste created by the bottles and that trash collectors at his office pick up 10 to 15 million single-use bottles in a year.

Taylor Safford, Pier 39’s CEO, said it would be hard on residents and tourists out for a day of fun at the pier.

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“These families want and prefer their convenience and healthfulness of small, easy-to-carry packaging such as 12 to 14 ounce bottles,” he said.

Environmentalists, however, are pushing the ban.

“The water in plastic water bottles is tested up to five times less frequently than our tap water and the tap water does not contain chemicals like BPA and phthalates,” said Cameron Bingley, an activist and environmental studies student at San Francisco State University.

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The goal is to put filling stations around San Francisco so people who can’t buy bottled water could still quench their thirst.