Thiruvananthapuram: Hotels and restaurants in Varkala, in an effort to reduce plastic waste, have decided to do away with bottled water. Instead they plan to serve purified water in glass tumblers.
As part of ‘Zero Waste Beacon Varkala Municipality’ project, Varkala Tourism Development Association, which has 122 resorts as members, has promised to look into greener choices. To make this a success, VTDA will be appealing to every resort, homestay, hotel and restaurant along the 5 km stretch from Aliyirakkam to Kappil. They promised this in a meeting with Varkala Municipality, Suchitwa Mission and the NGO Pelican Foundation, who have been implementing the ‘Beacon’ project.
They decided to support the initiative because of the huge amount of plastic waste generated, according to VTDA Joint Secretary Lenin Kumar. “A big restaurant will have 200-300 bottles to dispose of, every day. Of the 60 or so restaurants along the cliff, there are at least 40 such restaurants. We have conducted at least three beach cleanups over the past few years, only to see plastic piling up again. So when we saw how successfully green protocol was implemented during Sivagiri pilgrimage, we decided to support the movement,” he says.
However, the association is aware that there could be challenges while implementing the decision. Tourists most often prefer bottled water, as they perceive it to be a safer option. Moreover members feel that there has to be lighter alternatives, as glass, steel and copper bottles are too heavy to handle. Not just restaurants and five star hotels, but even homestays will have to be convinced about not using bottled water.
