Posted on 11/01/2017 8:31:02 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The city of Monterey wants people to stop using plastic straws in an effort to reduce waste and keep plastic out of the ocean.
The city of Monterey wants people to stop using plastic straws in an effort to reduce waste and keep plastic out of the ocean.
Monterey is suggesting people request noto not have a straw in their drink when they eat out and it is also asking restaurants to reduce the use of straws.
Advertisement Plastic straws, which often end up in the trash, have become the norm.
"I've been using a straw my whole life, so I just automatically take it out of the package and I put it inside," said Starbucks customer Marcello Silva.
The city is hoping to break people of that habit.their straw habits
"That's a lot of what this campaign is about… it's drawing attention to something that you're not thinking about," said Monterey Sustainability Coordinator Ted Terrasas.
According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, about 500 million straws are used and disposed of each day in the United States and some of that waste iends up in the ocean.
"There is a ton of plastic going into the ocean every year;, a recent study showed 8.8 million tons makes it way in there every year," said Erin Eastwood with the aquarium.Aquarium
Eastwood said straws are part of the problem and are one of the top five items found at beach cleanups.clean-ups
Terrasas said he hopes when people read the statistics, they will think twice about using straws.
"The point is to get people to think about the level of waste even these small things can create when you do them over and over several times per day," he said.
The inspiration behind the campaign came from high school student Shelby O'Neil. The teen started the Jr Ocean Guardians as part of a Girl Scouts of America project and has made it her mission to reduce the useprevalence of single-use use plastic.
O'Neil contacted the city and got leaders on board with the No Straw November campaign.
"I simply just laid out what was going on with our oceans’ health, and how I think we should bring this topic into conversation, and they agreed," wrote O'Neil in an email about her efforts to get the city to launch the campaign.
But getting the general public on board may not be as simple because people like their straws.
"You can ask to not have a straw, but I like the straw," said Jamba Juice customer Lizzy Monroy Rodriguez.
Local business owners found out about the campaign on Wednesday;, some were not happy but others were open to reducing the use of straws.
"We , wewill give it a shot if that is what the city wants to do," said Chris Culcasi at Rosine's in downtown Monterey.
Culcasi said Rosine's has tried using eco-friendly straws in the past but customers were not a fans of the paper products.
"We would serve drinks with paper straws and people would throw them back at us," he said.
Monterey is not the first municipality on the peninsula to take on straws. Carmel voted in a straw ban this fall and beginning in 2018, restaurants will only be allowed to give biodegradable straws to customers.
Terrasas said that for now, No Straw November is just a campaign. But bdepending on the response, it could be the first step toward an ordinance.
Soft drinks taste better directly from the glass. They really do.
I never use them.
Plastic straws are a new-fangled invention. Paper straws were fine. They also challenged you to finish your drink before they turned to mush in your mouth.
Paper straws were also better because you could slit the end about 3/8 inch and make a great shrieker!
500 million a day! Wow, what a load of pure useless waste.
You’ll take my Straw from my cold dead hand.
They never offer a straw with my beer.
Monterey County has the highest murder rate on CA for 18 to 24 year olds and they are worried about straws?
I must have straws. Can’t drink anything cold otherwise.
So use paper straws————no big deal.I grew up with them.
.
great ... now we have to go back to using rolled up twenties
Seriously?
Let’s just tax the crap out of plastic straws & subsidize the crap out of paper straws.
Problem solved.
*sarc*
There must be something in the air in California, since they don’t have enough water.
The old Dixie wax-coated paper straw could suck the ticks off a buffalo.
Monterey. Another leftist, stupid PC craphole despite apparently being a nice looking city?
“The inspiration behind the campaign came from high school student Shelby O’Neil. The teen started the Jr Ocean Guardians as part of a Girl Scouts of America project and has made it her mission to reduce the useprevalence of single-use use plastic.”
Oh, good. Another young airhead that wants to make a difference.
The genetic disorder lives on.
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