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Alaska Airlines is the last big company to give up plastic straws. Here's why we should all too.
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Plastic straws are one of the top 10 plastic items found in beach cleans every year.(Photo: Getty Images / iStockphoto)

A new law prohibits California restaurants from automatically distributing disposable plastic straws with drinks as early as next year.

The bill, which applies only to full-service restaurants, was signed Thursday by California Governor Jerry Brown. Customers who want a plastic straw will still be able to request it at the restaurant according to the law.

"Plastic has helped advance innovation in our society, but our craze for single-use convenience has had disastrous consequences," wrote Brown in a signature message, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"It's a very small step to ask a customer who wants a plastic straw to ask for it," said Brown. Time reports.

With the adoption of the bill, California becomes the first state to prohibit restaurants from automatically distributing plastic straws. The law is, however, less restrictive than some laws adopted by cities like Seattle.

Restaurants that do not comply with the law will receive two warnings; they can be fined up to $ 300 a year. The restaurant industry did not oppose the proposal.

According to Sailors for the Sea, a non-profit organization, it is estimated that Americans use 500 million straws per day and that straws are among the top 10 marine debris collected during international coastal cleanup.

The anti-plastic straw movement gained momentum when a video showing rescuers pulling a straw from a sea turtle nostril became viral in 2015.

Contributor: David Pan, USA TODAY & # 39; HUI; The Associated Press.

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