This makes me happy, no more plastic bottles on NCL

[ziggyuk]

 

I honestly don't see how these bottles are even remotely better than the old plastic ones.

 

They are still single use.

They are not paper, they are mixed materials and are not as easy to recycle as a plastic (single material) bottle.

Impregnated paper containers such as tetra pak, milk cartons or soup carton are mixed material and not easy to recycle, certainly in my area they won't even accept these packs.

 

At least NCL are taking care of the recycling, and hopefully they packs will end up being recycled just like the plastic bottles were!

Take them home or off the ship and I bet they end up in landfill unlike plastic which at least can be easily recycled. If I took one of these home, it would have to go in the general rubbish where a plastic bottle would go in my recycle bin.

 

The bigger problem is the single use, not necessarily the material, as said above it's about time more clean water stations were installed, serving clean, filtered, chilled water, not only on ships but everyday life.

 

[sparks1093]

3 hours ago, Love my butler said:

With the amount of pollution a single cruise ship puts out in 1 week alone, this paper versus plastic argument is laughable.  Nearly 100% of plastic bottles on cruise ships are recycled so there really is no need for NCL to make the switch.  NCL did not do this for the environment, they did it to save some nickels and dimes.  To deny that is to deny reality.

IF they are indeed recycled. We have mandatory recycling here in Vermont and at least half of the plastic for recycling gets put in the landfill because there is no market for the plastic (and Vermont just outlawed plastic bags, killing one of the potential markets for recycled plastic). As for the cost savings I've no data one way or another on that, is paper packaging actually less expensive? For all I know it might be more expensive.

 

As for the rest of the argument in this thread, eliminating what can be eliminated is a step in the right direction even if it's not the cure all. Companies (not just cruise companies) should always look for ways to reduce their environmental impact, just as individuals should. 

[MotownVoice]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

IF they are indeed recycled. We have mandatory recycling here in Vermont and at least half of the plastic for recycling gets put in the landfill because there is no market for the plastic (and Vermont just outlawed plastic bags, killing one of the potential markets for recycled plastic). As for the cost savings I've no data one way or another on that, is paper packaging actually less expensive? For all I know it might be more expensive.

 

As for the rest of the argument in this thread, eliminating what can be eliminated is a step in the right direction even if it's not the cure all. Companies (not just cruise companies) should always look for ways to reduce their environmental impact, just as individuals should. 

All true.  But something else to consider as relates to recycling:  Most plastic rejected by recycling outfits don't get rejected because of a lack of potential buyers for the resource.  They get rejected because they weren't recyclable plastic in the first place, and the recycling industry did a horrible job educating the public as to what plastics are and aren't recyclable and what to look for to identify it.  And secondly, plastic grocery and garbage bags have never been recyclable.  There's the rub with those things.  They've always gone to the land fill, and they always will (for obvious reasons in the case of garbage bags.)  So getting rid of them and going back to biodegradable paper is an excellent idea.

I can remember as a kid when a paper grocery bag was the trash can liner in every household in the neighborhood.  It's just how we did it. 

Edited January 28, 2020 by MotownVoice

[BirdTravels]

The new packaging allows them to incinerate vs paying to have the plastics hauled to recycling. On the newer ships, even food wastes are incinerated vs being ground for fish food and dumped overboard. 

[sparks1093]

6 minutes ago, MotownVoice said:

All true.  But something else to consider as relates to recycling:  Most plastic rejected by recycling outfits don't get rejected because of a lack of potential buyers for the resource.  They get rejected because they weren't recyclable plastic in the first place, and the recycling industry did a horrible job educating the public as to what plastics are and aren't recyclable and what to look for to identify it.  And secondly, plastic grocery and garbage bags have never been recyclable.  There's the rub with those things.  They've always gone to the land fill, and they always will (for obvious reasons in the case of garbage bags.)  So getting rid of them and going back to biodegradable paper is an excellent idea.

I can remember as a kid when a paper grocery bag was the trash can liner in every household in the neighborhood.  It's just how we did it. 

The bags may not be recyclable but they can be made out of recycled plastic and that was my point. I've spoken to my trash collector several times on this (actually the owner of the company) and he was quite clear that the plastic was rejected because there was no market for it. I can also remember many a time having those paper grocery bags break on the way out of the house, too.

[sparks1093]

1 minute ago, BirdTravels said:

The new packaging allows them to incinerate vs paying to have the plastics hauled to recycling. On the newer ships, even food wastes are incinerated vs being ground for fish food and dumped overboard. 

Now that is a shame.

[ziggyuk]

12 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The new packaging allows them to incinerate vs paying to have the plastics hauled to recycling. On the newer ships, even food wastes are incinerated vs being ground for fish food and dumped overboard. 

 

Well that's progress, glad NCL are doing so their part to help 🙄

[RedwingHockeyFan]

It just traded polluting the ocean for polluting the air.

[Buckeye10640]

22 hours ago, julig22 said:

Put in refill stations like they have at the airports if NCL wants to reduce waste.  Make their money by selling souvenir refillable bottles for anyone who forgets to bring one onboard.

YES. Exactly this!!

[schmoopie17]

If they were so concerned about eliminating plastic waste, they would eliminate the thousands of plastic cups at the pool that get used every cruise. Water bottles are a drop in the bucket...

[fstuff1]

22 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

And so are the new ones. And they survived several weeks of being refilled. 

 

I usually put the water bottles in my front pants pocket.

I was afraid these paper ones would rip and tear. They didn't.

But These square bottoms are sharp and sometimes hurt/dig into you when you sit down. Ouch!

(I've since learned to adjust before sitting down.)

[Love my butler]

21 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

 

I usually put the water bottles in my front pants pocket.

I was afraid these paper ones would rip and tear. They didn't.

But These square bottoms are sharp and sometimes hurt/dig into you when you sit down. Ouch!

(I've since learned to adjust before sitting down.)

I have since learned to pack my own plastic bottles when taking an NCL cruise.  I also pack some plastic straws.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

If they were so concerned about eliminating plastic waste, they would eliminate the thousands of plastic cups at the pool that get used every cruise. Water bottles are a drop in the bucket...

What would you have them replaced with?

[ziggyuk]

36 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

What would you have them replaced with?

 

Dishwasher safe reusable plastic or metal cups, they would then work just the same way the regular bars work.

[schmoopie17]

3 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

What would you have them replaced with?

 

I was going to say what Ziggyuk said. It's not that difficult to replace the one-time use cups with re-usable cups. Problem solved.

[dasi11]

I just got off a ship with the new paper square bottles.  The water tastes terrible.  Made me gag!  It is spring water not purified water like they had before. I love drinking water all day and this water was horrible tasting!  I hope they rethink this.  

[GettotheSun]

Any truly progressive company that cares about the environment wouldn't exchange one single-use bottle for a single use "tetra pak" (or whatever you would call it).  It might be marginally better, but if they provided filtered water refill stations throughout the ship for people to use to refill their reuseable water bottles, that would be a genuine measure.  But they wouldn't make as much money, so screw that.  I've even read on one thread that they have a sign in the gym saying to NOT use the fountain in the gym to refill their water bottles.  Right.

[Newleno]

22 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

I suppose you don’t understand how filthy, germ ridden those airport dispensers are. Most people take a final swig from their bottle and jam it right up on the dispenser leaving their saliva on the dispenser. 

Hmm the sensor at my go to airport wont work unless the bottle is flat on the service, still would be a lot better than people on the cruise ship that jam watter bottles up into the beverage dispenser or using many cups to fill the water bottle and making a big mess.

[GettotheSun]

36 minutes ago, Newleno said:

Hmm the sensor at my go to airport wont work unless the bottle is flat on the service, still would be a lot better than people on the cruise ship that jam watter bottles up into the beverage dispenser or using many cups to fill the water bottle and making a big mess.

Agreed.  Any actual investment in water dispensers you can have a sensor-based spout.  So no need for anyone to jam their water bottle up to the spout and leave their lipstick on it.  Just saying. 

[tweety33]

On 1/28/2020 at 7:04 PM, dasi11 said:

I just got off a ship with the new paper square bottles.  The water tastes terrible.  Made me gag!  It is spring water not purified water like they had before. I love drinking water all day and this water was horrible tasting!  I hope they rethink this.  

I was about to order the 6 waters, so we would have it for our excursions. Glad I read this . The spring water makes me nervous, especially not knowing where its from. I would expect purified water for sure. So it actually had a nasty taste? That would gag me as well. Bummer!!!

[mking8288]

49 minutes ago, tweety33 said:

I was about to order the 6 waters ... spring water makes me nervous, especially not knowing where its from. I would expect purified water for sure ... 

 

Well, I look up history behind this NCL vendor - established in 2012 ... they sourced their water from Glens Fall, NY (only ???) and stated that they paid above premium pricing for fair use to bottle these upstate NY natural spring water.   It is shipped via trucks to NCL ports ... See link here & click thru for all the details ... 

https://justwater.com/ourpackaging/

 

 

 

[Arzeena]

12 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

Well, I look up history behind this NCL vendor - established in 2012 ... they sourced their water from Glens Fall, NY (only ???) and stated that they paid above premium pricing for fair use to bottle these upstate NY natural spring water.   It is shipped via trucks to NCL ports ... See link here & click thru for all the details ... 

https://justwater.com/ourpackaging/

 

 

 

Henry you have mail.

[Arzeena]

12 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

Well, I look up history behind this NCL vendor - established in 2012 ... they sourced their water from Glens Fall, NY (only ???) and stated that they paid above premium pricing for fair use to bottle these upstate NY natural spring water.   It is shipped via trucks to NCL ports ... See link here & click thru for all the details ... 

https://justwater.com/ourpackaging/

 

 

 

 I ordered a water package on the Bliss. It was waiting in our cabin when we arrived. There were 48 paper bottles plus 4 from NCL. I thought it was a LOT. Then two days later they brought 48 more.  We said that must be a mistake we only ordered one package. They insisted this is what we get.

Needless to stay we were very well hydrated on that cruise and donated one carton and some bottles to some people. I personally liked the paper bottle. It kept well chilled (more than the plastic one) in the fridge.

[tweety33]

10 hours ago, Arzeena said:

 I ordered a water package on the Bliss. It was waiting in our cabin when we arrived. There were 48 paper bottles plus 4 from NCL. I thought it was a LOT. Then two days later they brought 48 more.  We said that must be a mistake we only ordered one package. They insisted this is what we get.

Needless to stay we were very well hydrated on that cruise and donated one carton and some bottles to some people. I personally liked the paper bottle. It kept well chilled (more than the plastic one) in the fridge.

Did it just taste like water or did you find it to taste nasty.

[ray98]

Sailing around on a cruise ship but saving the environment by not having a plastic water bottle....lol.