North Bay Village Going Green To Protect Biscayne Bay
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - North Bay village is taking a step to go green by offering free plastic bottles to residents that can be filled with cleaning products at a newly installed refill station at city hall.
The South Florida community is making history for all of the right reasons.
It is the first city in the country to offer residents a fill station for household cleaning supplies to cut down on plastic waste and reduce pollution killing Biscayne Bay.
"We see there is plastic in our storm drains and we know that everything in our storm drains end up in the Bay. So, if we can reduce the amount of plastic that is circulating out there in the universe, that makes a difference," said North Bay Village Commissioner Rachel Streitfeld.
A difference to the Bay and sea life, coming off of one of the worst years of manatee deaths in Florida.
"You put the credit card in, and it shows here this product is manual dish detergent so we're going to hit D4. You can open the chamber door. Push up a little bit. And angle a little. And there you go."
The company, Ecopod, 30 years in the making, even offers at-home van service.
You leave your container on the doorstep a tech comes by, refills it curbside.
"We can be in auto part stores because we can dispense motor oils, radiator fluids, windshield cleaners, anything that is a liquid that is non-corrosive, we can dispense," said Ecopod developer Henry Pino.
"There has been a lot of plastic in the ocean and we have to stop that from happening," said resident Otto Lobo.
Dara Schoenwald traveled here from Miami Beach, and she is hoping they will bring it to her community.
"I don't drink bottled water. I don't use plastic bags at the grocery store, but some of the household products, it is hard to avoid. So, having a system like this is really a big part of making it accessible and easier for people who want to do the right thing," said Schoenwald.
Smart technology to curb the plastic pollution problem, one refill at a time.
