[...] "Plastic pollution is surpassing crisis levels in the world's oceans, and I'm proud Seattle is leading the way and setting an example for the nation by enacting a plastic straw ban," Mami Hara, the general manager of Seattle Public Utilities, told KOMO News.
The National Park Service estimates 500 million straws are used by Americans each day.
The Seattle ban actually began with an ordinance prohibiting one-time-use food service items in 2008, but the city has allowed exemptions on certain items every year since. For example, Styrofoam food packaging was banned in 2009, according to the Seattle Times. But because of the market, plastic utensils and straws have been exempted in Seattle's ban until now, the newspaper reported.
Seattle bans plastic straws, utensils, becoming first major US city to do so
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 04 2018, @04:58AM
When I was little, we had waxed paper straws.
I liked the way they smelled and I would always scrap the wax off with my teeth because it made them slippery. We didn't drink nearly as much soda (or eat at restaurants for that matter) as people do today.