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| These Items are Banned in Seattle |
Seattle has officially become the first major U.S. city to ban
restaurants from giving plastic straws and utensils to customers to help the
environment. Since July 1, restaurants
in the Emerald City are barred from providing customers plastic straws,
cocktail picks or utensils unless someone specifically requests one. In that
case, the customer should be given a compostable option, according to Seattle
Public Utilities. With 5,000 food
service providers in the area, Seattle is the first major city in the U.S. to
enact such a ban, KIRO-TV reported.
"Plastic pollution is surpassing crisis levels in the world's
oceans, and I'm proud Seattle is leading the way and setting an example for the
nation by enacting a plastic straw ban," Mami Hara, the general manager of
Seattle Public Utilities, told KOMO News.
The Seattle ban actually began with an ordinance prohibiting
one-time-use food service items in 2008, but the city has allowed exemptions on
certain items every year since. For example, Styrofoam food packaging was
banned in 2009, according to the Seattle Times. But because of the market,
plastic utensils and straws have been exempted in Seattle's ban until now, the
newspaper reported.
New York City is latest to consider banning plastic straws altogether. Restaurants were encouraged to use up
existing supplies of plastic straws and utensils before July. If that deadline
could not be met, restaurants were asked to check in with Seattle Public
Utilities to come up with a different schedule.
California's enacted and potential bans, from internal combustion
engines to plastic bags. Duke Moscrip,
founder and CEO of Duke's Seafood and Chowder, told KIRO that his restaurant
switched to compostable straws and utensils about three years ago. Then, the
products were "30 to 40 percent more expensive," he said. "Now it's about 10 percent. But we did
it anyway, just because it's the right thing to do," Moscrip said.
Now customers at grocery stores,
restaurants, food trucks, even institutional cafeterias must find another way
to get liquid into their mouths. Compostable paper and plastic straws are
allowed under the ban. People who have a medical need to use a straw are
exempt.