8 FEB: The US National Park Service is banning the sale of plastic water bottles within Grand Canyon National Park. The move comes more than a year after it was initially announced and then put on hold after Coca-Cola - which bottles water under the Dasani brand - raised concerns about the plan.

The new restrictions take effect within 30 days, and follow the example of Utah’s Zion National Park, which launched a similar program in 2008, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which offers water stations and encourages visitors to bring their own bottles or buy a stainless steel reusable bottle at a visitor centre.

Discarded plastic bottles account for about 30% of the Grand Canyon’s total waste, according to an earlier park service estimate, and a park official said bottles are the single biggest source of rubbish found inside the canyon.

The canyon has 10 water filling stations on the South Rim and three on the North Rim, and some of the park’s concessionaires have installed similar facilities at hotels or restaurants.

The new policy applies only to bottled water.

Retail outlets within the park can still sell soda and juice in plastic bottles, and visitors can still bring plastic bottles into the park.