San Francisco May Outlaw the Plastic Straw
The proposed legislation would prohibit food and drink merchants from distributing single-use plastic straws to customers. On Tuesday, May 15th, City Supervisor Katy Tang introduced her plan to eliminate this inevitable form of litter. The official press release states, “The proposed ordinance bans single-use plastic straws and other plastic food ware and represents the next important step in the City’s pursuit of zero waste.”
Criticism of the omnipresent plastic straw has prevailed in recent years, and especially in the last several months on social media platforms like Facebook. Alternatives range from metal (for continued use), to paper (which can be quite expensive), to pasta (as one bar in the UK has done).
Debbie Raphael, Director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment, stated, “It’s time to bring the era of disposability to a close; this new ordinance is the next step in our City’s larger strategy to encourage more sustainable choices and reduce the volume of discarded plastics and other pollutants.”
Some other cities with plastic straw bans currently in place include Alameda, Santa Cruz, Davis, San Luis Obispo, Malibu, Seattle, Miami Beach and Fort Myers. If approved by the Board of Supervisors and signed into law by Mayor Mark Farrell, the ordinance will officially take effect in San Francisco on July 1st of 2019.
