The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has voted to ban single-use plastics of toiletries in hotel rooms.
The ordinance was unanimously passed at a meeting on November 20. The Board of Supervisors is expected to formally adopt the ordinance next week.
If formally adopted, hotels in Santa Cruz County would be required to phase out small plastic bottles of personal care products by the end of 2020. Hotels would be encouraged to use bulk dispensers of shampoo, conditioner, and lotion instead of the small plastic bottles.
Hotels that violate the ordinance could face fines up to $500.
At last week’s Board of Supervisors meeting, the majority of neighbors in the comment period spoke in favor of the ban, citing the toll of plastics on the local environment.
In April, Marriott Hotels announced that 1,500 Marriott properties in North America will replace the small bottles with bulk dispensers by January 2019.
