reasons why plastic straws should be banned

Seattle became the first US city to completely ban them in July 2018, and Vancouver was the 1st major Canadian city to do so. But a single straw weighs very little. Cities and even entire countries started implementing policies and laws to either severely limit or outright ban plastic straws. That’s why many people want to ban plastic straws. Seattle, Washington, is one of them. Plastic straws make up a tiny percentage of the waste in the ocean. Opponents of such bans, however, say they would do little to solve the much bigger problem of plastic waste that’s improperly disposed of. Twitter user @sarahbreannep even designed a handy chart that explains why plastic straw ... are against the move to ban plastic straws — and what can be done instead. Despite this, Seattle banned plastic straws in July 2018, as have many corporate greens. Starbucks is phasing out plastic straws by 2020. Some cities have done this. The world is heating up dangerously and the oceans may be dying. The change will cut down 175 million straws and 13 million stirrers annually. MacDonald’s is moving to ban them in the U.K. and Ireland. Dozens of cities, states and nations are enacting bans and restrictions on single-use plastic bags and other items. — Miyoko Sakashita, The Hill. On January 1, 2019, a ban on plastic straws in restaurants and other service businesses began in Washington, D.C. Read on for the reasons behind such bans, and how we got here. Instead of banning plastic straws altogether, they say, people should be encouraged to properly recycle them. "This isn’t about straws, it’s about whether Americans are willing to evolve into better stewards of the natural world — or instead treat that very idea with contempt." Some critiques point to the fact that plastic straws, if measured per item, make up only four percent of ocean debris. In this context, the UK's proposed plan to ban plastic straws feels a little like spitting in the wind. Soon restaurants there will have to stop handing out plastic straws. Banning plastic straws, they say, would help reduce the amount of plastic threatening marine life. Americans discard 12 million pounds of plastic straws annually. Despite calls for a broader adoption of these plastic straw bans, there is also strong resistance to this movement. Banning plastic straws would be a symbolic gesture toward a greener future. Mickey and Minnie are joining the straw ban with a plan to" eliminate single-use plastic straws and plastic stirrers at all owned and operated locations across the globe by mid-2019." Banning plastic straws is meant to be a proactive step in easing the burden that plastic waste has on our environment. A legal expert explains how a global treaty could build on these efforts. Restrictions on single-use plastic bags and other items ban them in the U.K. and Ireland oceans may be.. 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