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Want a plastic straw in a full service restaurant?
You’ll need to ask for one under a new law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown aimed at cutting down on pollution.
The change covers full-service dining starting in 2019 but not in fast-food establishments.
The new norm will be paper straws as a local scout troop stressed while in attendance during last week’s City Council meeting. Following a brief presentation about the harmful effects of plastic straws, the scouts greeted council members and the mayor at their seats handing out the paper variety.
Peter Roseman, Ishaan Mehta, Ethan Burger and Wyatt Morimoto-Woo from Monterey Hills Elementary School earned praised from the council after showing the initiative to remind audience members and those watching on television from home about the importance of reducing plastic from the environment.
The scouts will be out in force Thursday passing out paper straws during Thursday’s farmers’ market in town, and again on January 31 as they urge shoppers to go plastic free when it comes to straw use.
Why the ban on plastic straws? The answer can be found in Assembly Bill 1884. Assembly member Ian Calderon, D-Whittier is the bill’s author, noting the law brings “awareness around the issue of one-time use plastic straws and its detrimental effects on our landfills, waterways and oceans.”
When he signed the law into effect, Brown was much more succinct, suggesting all plastics “are choking our planet.”
The goal is zero waste.
“Plastic has helped advance innovation in our society, but our infatuation with single-use convenience has led to disastrous consequences,” Brown wrote, regarding AB 1884. “It is a very small step to make a customer who wants a plastic straw ask for it. And it might make them pause and think again about an alternative.”
