Ending The Plastic Straw Epidemic

The plastic straw epidemic is slowly but surely coming to an end. Seattle is not only banning the use of plastic straws and utensils, but they are banning the use of plastic utensils at all food service businesses. While there has been talk of banning plastic straws and utensils, no major American city has actually followed through. But by putting a law in place, Seattle has changed that.

The details of the ordinance prohibits all types of businesses from providing plastic straws and utensils to their customers. The only way they are allowed to serve a customer a plastic straw is if the customer specifically asks for a plastic straw or utensil. If a business does not follow this law, they will be fines $250 for every offense.

The same legislation is underway in San Fransisco. Lawmakers are hoping that soon enough they too will have a full ban of plastic straws and utensils. The same goes for California’s Santa Cruz County and Malibu.

Everyday, Americans use 500 million straws. That is enough straws to circle the earth two and a half times. Needless to say, the legislation that these states are putting into place is extremely necessary. Because the straw never fully degrades, they never go away. You can take the One Less Straw pledge and take a step towards a better planet!