Hawaii to Become First U.S. State to Ban Coral-Damaging Sunscreen
OutdoorHub Reporters 07.09.18
By penning a historic bill this week, Hawaii will become the first U.S. state to ban the sale of coral-damaging sunscreen that contains chemicals known to destroy coral reefs.
Hawaii Governor, David Ige, was reported stating the following at the bill signing:
“We are blessed in Hawaii to be home of some of the most beautiful natural resources on the planet, but our natural environment is fragile and our own interaction with the Earth can have everlasting impacts, and this bill is a small first step worldwide to really caring about our corals and our reefs in a way that no one else anywhere in the world has done.”
A press release states the legislation will take effect beginning January 1, 2021.
Starting then, the bill “bans the sale, offer of sale, or distribution in the State of any sunscreen containing oxybenzone or octinoxate, or both, without a prescription issued by a licensed healthcare provider to preserve marine ecosystems.”
This is exceptionally good news for our ocean environments, however, making the switch to a new brand of sunscreen that fits this bill, might be a taller task than you would think. . .
According to NPR, nearly 70 percent of sunscreens sold on the U.S. market contain oxybenzone, and up to 8 percent contain octinoxate.
So you don’t have to go through the sunscreen isle with a fine-tooth comb, Men’s Health gathered a few bottles that are oxybenzone-free, including Aveeno Baby sunscreen, Bare Republic Mineral Baby Sunscreen Stick, and All Good Natural Sport Sunscreen Lotion.
