10-8-2017

All businesses that sell food and beverages in Seattle will be required to stop using disposable plastic straws and cutlery by July 1, 2018. The plastic straw and cutlery ban is the next stage of a 2008 law phasing out plastic items from Seattle’s food industry.

In support of a campaign called Strawless in Seattle, about 200 restaurants agreed to make the switch to compostable straws last month. Instead of waiting for the ban to be implemented, they are trading in the plastic straw now. Its replacement? A paper option proven to biodegrade within 45-90 days.

Strawless in Seattle was launched by the nonprofit Lonely Whale Foundation, and expects to prevent 1 million plastic straws from being used in its first month. Ocean plastics are a huge dilemma for ecosystem health — scientists estimate that nearly 300 marine species are affected by eating or getting caught in plastic in the ocean.

Learn more about the disposable straw campaign here.