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A ban on straws and plastic utensils in Seattle restaurants will not immediately reduce the amount of plastic polluting the environment. This is a good start and should be copied by Clark County officials.
Since last week, food and beverage vendors in Washington's largest city are not allowed to supply single-use plastics. first big city of the United States to adopt such a ban. The action follows a decade-old city ordinance forcing restaurants to find recyclable or compostable alternatives to containers, goblets and other disposable products – the kind of things that end up in landfills or in the ocean. whether or not they are used
. the impulse for the ban of plastic straws. With increasing attention being paid to the impact of plastics discharged into the oceans, the urgency of reducing their use is becoming inevitable. With or without a ban, consumers should recycle plastics as much as possible – including newspaper bags.
According to a 2015 Science magazine study, at least 4.8 million tonnes of plastic waste enter the oceans each year. Scientists predict that by 2050 there will be more plastics than fish in the ocean. Much of this debris accumulates in bins formed by circular currents, and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch covers about twice the area of Texas in the world's largest ocean
This only reflects the top layer the problem of plastics. Scientists say that about 1% of plastic waste accumulates on the surface, while the rest breaks down into microplastics that clump on the bottom of the ocean. Although plastics break down into tiny particles, they are not biodegradable, which means they never really leave the ocean. Studies have shown that broken plastics release harmful toxins to marine life and coral reefs – which eventually enter the food chain. As Seattle Public Utilities' Mami Hara said, "plastic pollution exceeds crisis levels in the world's oceans."
Ending the use of plastic straws will not stem this wave; straws represent a small percentage of debris in the ocean. But action can trigger discussions about disposable plastics and their impact. "Our straw campaign is not really about straws," said Dune Ives of Lonely Whale, an environmental organization that pushed to ban Seattle, at Vox.com. "It's a matter of highlighting the prevalence of single-use plastics in our lives, putting up a mirror to hold us accountable, we've all been asleep at the wheel."
Clark County officials should be to join up with Seattle to wake up and take a common-sense approach to reduce plastic waste.While some consider the ban as a passing on of the government (or the "politically correct"), the fact is that the reduction of single-use plastics would bring environmental benefits with little inconvenience for consumers and businesses.If there are concerns about customers who can not drink without straw, companies might be allowed to supply straw on request.
In the meantime, the problem can raise awareness of the prevalence of single-use plastics in our daily lives. They should think globally and act locally by reducing the amount of plastic packaging in the products they buy, by having reusable water bottles, and by bringing reusable grocery bags. with them at the store.
Every plastic item we use ends up dumped or ocean – and it never goes away. Local cities should do their utmost to reduce this impact.
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