Sucking the life out of plastic straws

Even the Queen of England is having second thoughts about the simple straw|

Queen Elizabeth II recently got her staff everywhere to adopt a new waste-reduction plan that includes banning plastic straws and bottles at all of her royal estates.

Plastic straws will be phased out of public cafes at royal residences and banned from staff dining rooms. Royal caterers will be required to use china plates and glasses, according to the Washington Post, and to-go containers will be compostable or biodegradable, according to news.com.au.

At the same time solar panels are being installed, composting is starting, and electricity systems are being updated with goal of increasing efficiency by 40 percent. The queen is setting an example from the top.

Also according to the Washington Post, each year, 300 million tons of plastic are produced globally. Ten percent of that ends up in the sea. At current rates, plastic will outweigh fish in the sea by 2050. Sea life and marine animals that eat this refuse accidentally, confusing it with food, can get sick and die. Humans, too, can end up with this plastic in their systems after consuming seafood.

California State Assemblyman Ian Calderon (D-Whittier) has introduced a bill (AB1884) that requires servers in sit-down restaurants to ask customers if they want a straw before offering one. This, of course, appears to apply only to plastic straws, which several cities have banned because of the harm they do to the environment.

San Luis Obispo and Davis adopted city ordinances similar to this legislation last year. Manhattan Beach has banned all disposable plastics and Berkeley and Los Angeles are considering a ban on plastic straws; Santa Cruz prohibits plastic straws in to-go orders, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. They also quote the National Park Service as saying 500 million straws are discarded each day.

The ban does not apply to fast food restaurants or non-sit-down food retailers.

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