California Bans Restaurants From Automatically Giving Out Plastic Straws

Come 2019, California diners who want a plastic straw for their beverage will have to specifically ask for one. On Thursday, a bill banning full-service restaurants from automatically giving customers plastic straws was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown.

“Plastic has helped advance innovation in our society, but our infatuation with single-use convenience has led to disastrous consequences,” Brown wrote in a signing message per the Los Angeles Times.

Straws won’t be completely vanishing, though: In addition to customers at full-service restaurants being able to get one on request, the law does not apply to fast-food restaurants (arguably the biggest user of plastic straws), coffee shops, delis, or restaurants serving takeout, as Eater SF reports.

Plastic straws have seemingly become public enemy number one this year, with celebrities like Tom Brady publicly promising to stop using them and and big companies like Alaska Airlines, Ikea, and Starbucks discontinuing their use or vowing to do so soon. (Starbucks says it will phase out plastic straws by 2020 in favor of plastic sippy cups and compostable straws.)

Though California is the first to enact a statewide law restricting the use of plastic straws, Seattle became the first city to ban straws (and other plastic utensils) back in July. (The city of San Francisco previously passed a law of its own banning the use of plastic straws outright; it’s due to take effect in July 2019.) Meanwhile across the pond, UK Prime Minister Theresa May proposed banning plastic straws by the end of the year.

According to environmental group EcoCycle, Americans use an estimated 500 million disposable straws every day (though the accuracy of this figure has been questioned), and straws were the seventh most common piece of trash picked up on beaches worldwide by volunteer cleanup crews associated with the marine conservation group Ocean Conservancy.

While the negative environmental impact of America’s fervent plastic straw use cannot be discounted, banning straws isn’t without consequence: Some people with disabilities depend on plastic straws for safe drinking. Meanwhile, others are learning to make do with reusable metal straws, which may seemingly soon become as common as reusable water bottles and travel coffee mugs.

• California Becomes First State to Restrict Plastic Straws at Restaurants [LA Times]
• CA Bans Plastic Straws Except Upon Request at Full-Service Restaurants [Eater SF]