How Cruise Lines Are Using Less Plastic

For years, cruise lines were almost addicted to single use plastic items — straws, cocktail swizzle sticks and plastic water bottles.

And with mega cruise ships exceeding 6,000 or 7,000 people on board, that was a staggering amount of plastic being used and then discarded.

Now, Norwegian Cruise Line has announced it’s getting rid of all of them.

The company has already eliminated plastic straws and cocktail stirrers. And now, it’s eliminating plastic water bottles. About 82% of its new bottles are made of paper or plant-based materials and can be recycled.

And even the bottle caps, which look just like plastic, are made of sugar cane. It’s a great step in the right direction. Now, we just have to encourage cruise passengers to bring on their own refillable metal thermoses.