The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Proposed straw bans run into resistance
WASHINGTON — Hard on the heels of banning plastic bags, states and cities are being pressed by environmentalists to eliminate another consumer convenience — plastic straws. But objections from the plastics industry, restaurants and disability advocates have derailed or delayed some proposed straw bans. And experts say cutting down on single-use plastic may be more about changing habits than changing laws. Here’s what you need to know: Why the call for bans?
Researchers have found plastic in fish, in the bellies of seabirds and in fresh drinking water as well. A viral video of scientists removing a straw from a sea turtle’s nostril has inflamed passions too. Straws are an easy target for environmental change, though, because they’re considered nonessential. Kara Lavender Law, a research professor of oceanography at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Mass., said there’s plenty of evidence that throwaway plastics are getting into the ocean, as cleanup efforts find lots of straws, bottles, bags and food wrappers.
The world’s largest accumulation of trash, dubbed the “Great Pacific Gar
bage Patch,” is now more than 600,000 square miles, according to a study in the journal Nature.
Which states are currently weighing bans?
Three states — California, Hawaii and New York — have considered plastic straw legislation in 2018. Hawaii’s died, and the other two are still pending.
This week, Seattle became the first city in the country to ban plastic straws,
and Miami Beach, Oakland and more than a dozen other cities, about half of them in California, are requiring customers who want a straw to ask for it. New York City is also considering a ban.
Opposition to the bans
In Hawaii, objections came from the Hawaii Food Industry Association, the Hawaii Restaurant Association, the Retail Merchants Association and the American Chemistry Council, all of which presented testimony in hearings about the bill.
“We all need to get better at reducing waste and educating the general public in proper disposal of trash, but this bill is not the solution,” the restaurant group’s statement read. “The alternate for plastic straws whether it’s paper or reusable is really not that available. Is the next step banning all disposable utensils?”
The American Chemistry Council also opposes plastic straw bans and recently suggested that an “opt-in” plan, under which diners must ask for a straw, is a better solution.
“Recycling, source reduction, recovery, and conservation are all tools to help reduce litter/disposal,” senior director Tim Shestek said in an email. “In this particular instance, we think an ‘on demand’ approach makes the most sense.”
Many disability advocates oppose straw bans, noting that alternatives such as paper straws and reusable straws may not work as well for disabled people. Jessica Denise Grono, of Phoenixville,
Pa., who has cerebral palsy and who blogs as “CP Mommy,” said in an email interview that without a straw, “I’d be forced to have someone pour a drink in my mouth. Only half would go in. A straw gives me a less messy and independent way to drink.”
What’s next?
Bon Appetit, a chain of a thousand eateries, recently announced it would ban plastic straws. But McDonald’s stockholders voted down a proposal backed by the consumer watchdog group SumOfUs calling for the company to make efforts to “develop and implement substitutes for plastic straws.”
McDonald’s uses 95 million straws a day in the United States, according to the watchdog group. In opposing the proposal, McDonald’s said it continues to look for “sustainable alternatives for plastic straws globally.” In fact, it is phasing in paper straws in the United Kingdom after the U.K. banned plastic straws.
The New York City plastic straw ban bill, introduced by Democratic Councilman Rafael Espinal of Brooklyn, had its first hearing in June, picking up support from Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. In an op-ed for the New York Daily News, Espinal and colleagues noted that at least 65 restaurants in the city have signed on to a campaign to do away with plastic straws.
In California, the opt-in already has become the fallback position for advocates of a statewide plastic straw ban. Unlike some of the city ordinances, the bill in the Legislature would provide for straws only on request in sit-down restaurants.
The bill passed the Assembly in May and was headed for the Senate. It follows in the wake of California banning plastic retail bags in 2014, which was upheld by statewide referendum in 2016.
Quotable
“I’m for folks being good stewards of the environment, but that doesn’t mean the government has to tell you how to do everything every day,” said Assemblyman Matthew Harper, a Republican from Orange County. Calif. “It’s ideologically fashionable to be opposed to anything that’s plastic. I represent a coastal district that includes Laguna Beach. I’d like to see more enforcement of litter laws.”