Venice nudges tourists away from plastic water bottles

After saying that it would charge a fee for day-tourists in order to control the number of tourists visiting the city, Venice has now taken another proactive measure to curb pollution caused by tourism.

It has asked tourists to help cut down on plastic pollution by drinking from the many public water fountains that permeate cities like Venice in lieu of using plastic water bottles that end up in the garbage heap. The move comes in light of fact that Venice is perhaps amongst the most exposed to pollution caused by over-tourism that has become a malaise for the city.

Venetian municipal officials have begun a local marketing campaign to advertise the request to the millions of visitors that descend on Venice each year. With the removal of all restrictions imposed to fight Covid-19, Venice has seen a huge rush of tourists this summer and the visitor numbers are now back to pre-pandemic levels.

To help tourists, city officials in Venice have begun issuing maps of where public drinking fountains are located especially in the historic center of St Mark’s Square. There are 126 public drinking fountains that are classified as safe to drink out of, so tourists should never be more than a few steps from quenching their thirst, and avoid throwing plastic water bottles into the street, which eventually end up either clogging the canals or increasing the garbage produced by the city.

Venice has been suffering from over-tourism for a while, with the most visible signs of this being seen in the city’s canals which have become heavily polluted. It was with this in mind that the city had earlier announced that it would charge a fee for day-tourists, a move that has now been deferred to next year.