Riverbanks Reduces Plastics Pollution with New Eco-Friendly Partnership

For Immediate Release: January 25, 2018

[Columbia, SC] — Riverbanks is proud to partner with JUST Water as part of the Zoo and Garden’s continued commitment to a greener and more sustainable planet.

JUST Water is a bottled water brand dedicated to responsible and innovative business practices to make a positive environmental and community impact. The bottles are 100% recyclable using plant-based (made from sugarcane) plastics and paper content from environmentally certified forests.

The water is 100% spring water that is ethically sourced from a partnership with the city of Glen Falls, New York. The Glen Falls watershed collects approximately three billion gallons of water annually from precipitation. The city uses a fraction and JUST bottles the excess providing a new industrial base in Glen Falls and funding improvements to the community’s water infrastructure.

"The partnership with Riverbanks Zoo is profound to us here at JUST,” said Ira Laufer, CEO of JUST Water. “The emphasis they put behind educating their visitors on sustainability, in tandem with the commitment they're taking to lead in being an environmentally friendly venue is to the core of the JUST mission.  We're so excited to welcome Riverbanks Zoo to the JUST family.”

JUST Water is now available to guests in all of the park’s dining and snack locations.

“Reducing Riverbanks’ carbon footprint by decreasing plastics pollution is an essential step in protecting the Earth’s ecosystem,” said Susan O’Cain, public relations manager at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden. “Plastic waste covers nearly half of the world’s ocean surfaces and has toxic impacts on animals, humans and the environment.”

Last year, Riverbanks removed plastic drink lids, straws, and bags from the park. The Zoo and Garden also offers its more than one million annual visitors convenient access to a variety of in-park recycling programs.

“Whether you’re recycling an old cell phone to protect gorillas and their natural habitats or loading your garden with comPOOst, we encourage guests to make environmentally conscious decisions during their visit that we hope will lead to healthier habits at home,” said O’Cain.