Arguably a fair compromise is to not hand out a straw unless the customer demands it and have a drink lid that can be easily sipped from or can use a straw.
But this still doesn't address the issue that if the straw is not disposed of properly when the person is finished using it, then it can risk ending up in a waterway.
Arguably a fair compromise is to not hand out a straw unless the customer demands it and have a drink lid that can be easily sipped from or can use a straw.
But this still doesn't address the issue that if the straw is not disposed of properly when the person is finished using it, then it can risk ending up in a waterway.
Such an effort would provide an improvement, albeit miniscule, because it would only apply to the subset of straws that are thrown out as litter. A ban on plastics exportation and the construction of plastic incinerating power plants to handle the plastics we can't affordably recycle here would be a tremendous improvement.
It is true that a very large amount of plastic pollution comes from the Pacific Rim. It is also true that a noticeable amount of that pollution originates here, and is transported there via the recycle bin.
When we do beach and creek trash cleanups, and I presume itтАЩs similar for highway litter cleanup schemes, the primary plastics we find are light weight items that also catch easily in the wind. Before the plastic bag тАЬbanтАЭ (which hilariously were replaced with thicker plastic bags because virtue signaling politicians ignore downstream effects) thatтАЩs what weтАЩd primarily find. But we also find straws, food wrappers, and now masks.
Turns out in these public areas the waste disposal containers are open at the top and fill up quickly. ThereтАЩs always a small breeze at a minimum anywhere near the coast. All these items catch in the wind and can move easily from the intended place of disposal to the beach, creek, and eventually ocean.
Also in residential areas, recyclables are required to be loosely placed in the recycling containers. No bagged items allowed, and for that matter no empty plastic bags either. This is because they cause problems at the materials recycling facility. But what happens when theyтАЩre dumped into the garbage/recycling collection vehicle on a slightly breezy day?
Some dog owners apparently think their plastic poop filled bag belongs in the recyclables too.
Arguably a fair compromise is to not hand out a straw unless the customer demands it and have a drink lid that can be easily sipped from or can use a straw.
But this still doesn't address the issue that if the straw is not disposed of properly when the person is finished using it, then it can risk ending up in a waterway.
Such an effort would provide an improvement, albeit miniscule, because it would only apply to the subset of straws that are thrown out as litter. A ban on plastics exportation and the construction of plastic incinerating power plants to handle the plastics we can't affordably recycle here would be a tremendous improvement.
It is true that a very large amount of plastic pollution comes from the Pacific Rim. It is also true that a noticeable amount of that pollution originates here, and is transported there via the recycle bin.
When we do beach and creek trash cleanups, and I presume itтАЩs similar for highway litter cleanup schemes, the primary plastics we find are light weight items that also catch easily in the wind. Before the plastic bag тАЬbanтАЭ (which hilariously were replaced with thicker plastic bags because virtue signaling politicians ignore downstream effects) thatтАЩs what weтАЩd primarily find. But we also find straws, food wrappers, and now masks.
Turns out in these public areas the waste disposal containers are open at the top and fill up quickly. ThereтАЩs always a small breeze at a minimum anywhere near the coast. All these items catch in the wind and can move easily from the intended place of disposal to the beach, creek, and eventually ocean.
Also in residential areas, recyclables are required to be loosely placed in the recycling containers. No bagged items allowed, and for that matter no empty plastic bags either. This is because they cause problems at the materials recycling facility. But what happens when theyтАЩre dumped into the garbage/recycling collection vehicle on a slightly breezy day?
Some dog owners apparently think their plastic poop filled bag belongs in the recyclables too.