Salem Businesses Work To Eliminate Plastic Bottles

Salem Historical Tours: Several Salem businesses have undertaken an effort to reduce or eliminate plastic bottles sold in the city, by switching from water sold in plastic containers to water sold in boxes.

The plan is to sell JUST Water in half-liter cardboard containers. It is sustainably sourced spring water in a paper-based carton with and has a plant-based cap. The different layers of the carton are separated in mixed carton recycling and utilized. It is better for our planet and also refillable. Salem Historical Tours and Haunted Footsteps Ghost Tour owner Giovanni Alabiso has
spearheaded the plan.

“Our company recycles so we felt we were doing our part, but the stories of plastic in the oceans bothered me, “ he said. “We wanted to make a bigger impact so we decided to do this ourselves. Then I thought that it is bigger than just us. What if we could get other businesses to follow suit?” Businesses involved in the endeavor include Salem Historical Tours, Haunted Footsteps Ghost Tour, Salem Night Tour, Cinema Salem and Kakakwa Chocolate. Goodnight Fatty and Life Alive Organic Café has already been selling the product. And many more are contemplating the switch. “We get 1.5 million visitors a year to our tourist city,” said Alabiso. “What if we can inspire some of them to make a switch at their homes, businesses or towns and cities? That’s a huge win for everyone.” Salem Historical Tours and Haunted Footsteps Ghost Tour is also switching all of its other products from plastic to either cans or bottles. Cans have a higher recycle rate and are easier to transport, despite the fact that bauxite, used to make aluminum, has to be imported. Bottles have a lower recycle rate and cost more to transport but are far less damaging to the environment.

In addition, Salem Historical Tours has installed a water filter and will allow customers to refill reusable containers for free. If a customer doesn’t have a container, they can buy one and get free refills all day. There are also several water bottle refill stations throughout the city.

Every day approximately eight million pieces of plastic find their way into our oceans. There may now be around 5.25 trillion macro and micro plastic pieces floating in the open, weighing up to 269,000 tons. Plastics consistently make up the majority of all marine debris studied.
Businesses interested in joining the effort to reduce plastic bottle usage can contact Alabiso at 978.745.0666 or at TheSalemHistoricalTours@gmail.com