As more operators stop handing out plastic bags and switch to compostable and biodegradable takeout packaging, the next wasted plastic in focus are those ubiquitous drinking straws. Reports indicate that an estimated 500 million plastic straws end up in landfills every day.
Now, legislation recently introduced in California would actually make it illegal for servers to give customers plastic straws if they didn’t ask for them. The Straws Upon Request bill currently under review by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee seeks to reduce the overwhelming amount of single-use plastic that Californian’s consume on a daily basis and would require sit-down restaurants in the state to forgo the automatic distribution of straws in every drink. The cities of Davis and San Luis Obispo have already gone ahead with this restriction. Seattle, too, plans to ban plastic straws and utensils effective in July, and other cities are considering similar regulations.
