Though a bill that would have banned small plastic toiletry bottles from Maine hotels failed to clear the state legislature, the proposal highlighted similar initiatives in other states and the issue of single-use plastics more broadly.

The initiative would have banned certain hotels and short-term rentals from distributing products such as shampoo, conditioner, and lotion to guests in containers smaller than 6 ounces in size, according to the Maine Trust for Local News.

"This is a small step we can take to get some of the plastic out of our waste stream," Sarah Woodbury of the organization Defend Our Health said in support of the bill, according to a June report by ABC affiliate WMTW. "We cannot recycle our way out of the plastic crisis."

The bill faced stiff opposition from the hospitality industry, which argued the ban would hurt Maine's perception in the eyes of travelers.

"We're opposed to this effort to ban the single-use shampoo bottles," said Nate Cloutier of Hospitality Maine, according to WMTW. "I think a lot of guests that are coming to Maine to stay in our great state expect to have safe, clean bottles provided to them."

Despite the opposition, these bans do more than just prevent plastic waste. They also save money, which is good for hotels and could lead to cheaper rooms for guests, too.

Over time, switching to refillable dispensers can save hotels 20-30% on amenity expenses, according to Dispenser Amenities, which sells dispenser products to hospitality industry businesses.

"Single-use bottles might seem inexpensive at first glance, but when purchased in bulk quantities to meet demand, the expenses quickly accumulate," Dispenser Alliance says on its website. "For instance, buying individual 30-mililiter [1-ounce] shampoo bottles for hundreds of rooms can cost hotels thousands of dollars annually."

Though Maine's proposal fizzled, similar bans have become law in other states, increasing the likelihood that the Pine Tree State eventually will join them.

Starting Jan. 1, New York banned all single-use plastic bottles under 12 ounces in size from hotels with 50 or more rooms. The prohibition will extend to hotels with under 50 rooms beginning in 2026, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

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Beginning in 2023, California banned single-use plastic containers smaller than 6 ounces. Like New York, California instituted a phased rollout, with the ban applying to hotels with 50 or more rooms beginning in 2023 and accommodations of all sizes in 2024, according to EcoMundo.

Washington and Illinois also have passed similar measures.

State laws aside, the hospitality industry has been trending away from single-use containers for some time.

As far back as 2019, Marriott switched its hotels from single-use containers to reusable dispensers, CalMatters reported. The company estimated that the average 140-room hotel would avoid using 23,000 single-use plastic bottles, totaling 250 pounds of plastic, per year.

Even investors have gotten in on the act, pushing publicly traded hospitality companies to take steps to reduce plastic waste. Adopting a proposal from shareholder Green Century Capital Management, Hilton will release a single-use plastics report by 2025 and set a plastic reduction goal by 2026, Bloomberg Law reported in 2024.

While your household might not go through 23,000 plastic bottles per year, you can still use less plastic by avoiding single-use plastic packaging and by reusing, repurposing, and recycling the single-use containers you do have.

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