Plastic Straws Banned in Washington D.C

Article Written By: Minseo Cha

Alternative straws in use at Founding Farmers in D.C. Hay straws (left) and paper straws (right)

As of January 1, 2019, to use less plastic, is no longer an option for restaurants and other service businesses in Washington, D.C. With Seattle being the first major U.S city to ban plastic straws, Washington D.C. became the second to do so. Since plastic straws won’t disappear immediately, businesses have until July to make a transition to alternatives, before receiving fines for violations.

Back in October 2018, the law was updated to exclude single-use plastic straws and stirrers. According to WAMU’s Jacob Fenston, numerous local businesses had already started switching plastic straws to reusable and washable straws or disposable ones; “Many have started using hay straws, which are popular — they hold up well in drinks”.

Straw bans is now an important issue for various reasons. Above all, the damage caused by environmental pollution is getting worse day by day. Anti-straw activists say consumers in the U.S use no less than 500 million straws a day, and worldwide, it is estimated that straws form 4 per cent of plastic pollution found in oceans by volume. Not only that, activists view straws as a “gateway plastic” - an item that is mostly unnecessary and is usable only once. Cathrine Plume of the Sierra club’s D.C. chapter says, “A lot of times, we’re served straws, we don’t even ask for them, it’s just sort of automatically put in our drinks.” She added, “It’s just one less piece of plastic, in many cases, that we all need. And there are more sustainable alternatives out there.”

Bibliography (MLA 8 FORMAT):

Website Citations:

Website 1: Danigelis, Alyssa. “Washington DC's Plastic Straw and Stirrer Ban Goes Into Effect.” Environmental Leader, 3 Jan. 2019, www.environmentalleader.com/2019/01/dc-bans-plastic-straws/.

Website 2:

Fenston, Jacob. “Goodbye, Plastic Straws: D.C.'s Ban Is Now In Effect.” DCist, 2 Jan. 2019, 9:52AM, dcist.com/story/19/01/02/goodbye-plastic-straws-d-c-s-ban-is-now-in-effect/.

Photo Citations:

Photo 1:

Fenston, Jacob. “Plastic Straws Now Officially Banned In D.C.” WAMU, WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio, 2 Jan. 2019, wamu.org/story/19/01/02/plastic-straws-now-officially-banned-in-d-c/.