The south Pinellas County beach community of Gulfport might consider banning single-use plastic straws; at the city council meeting Tuesday evening, a law student is introducing the idea of a straw ban in Gulfport restaurants.
A similar ban passed in Ft. Myers Beach last year and is being considered in nearby St. Petersburg because of the impact of plastic straws on marine life.
It’s a class project by a student, Jennifer Winn, of law professor Lance Long at Stetson University College of Law. He teaches environmental advocacy among other courses.
Listen:
“It was part of an overall, I guess, movement in the U.S. to try to reduce plastic use. Plastic straws in particular are an item that are superfluous to most necessary eating and drinking. And it’s an item that when it’s used in coastal areas — ocean areas — it’s easily ingested by animals. Sea turtles get them stuck in their [nostrils], fish get them stuck in their gills — stuck in various places. It’s one of the most frequent items found when people pick up plastic and do beach clean-ups. It’s one of the most frequent items found out on the beach, in the water. And for all those reasons it just seems like a good place to start to reduce plastics. And once people get focusing on something as simple to eliminate as a straw, then maybe they can see beyond using the cup. Maybe the plastic bag. Other plastic things they realize there’s better ways to use reusables that will lighten the plastic debris load in the ocean.”
The Gulfport City Council meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday at 2401 53rd Street South.
Meanwhile, the Suncoast Rise Above Plastics Coalition is hosting a “ban the straw action event” Wednesday (April 4) from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at Hawthorne Bottle Shoppe,2927 Central Ave. in St. Petersburg.
3 Responses to “Law student pushing for plastic straw ban in Gulfport”
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Commenting without listening just reading blurb as no transcript appears available.
I wish someone would bring a disabled person that needs straws into these discussions. Straws are not necessarily superfluous. A lack of straws can be the same as not having a ramp as far as access for someone that needs them. Non-plastic alternatives don’t work for everyone depending on need. It took me (having the privilege of being able to pay for a bunch of trials that did not work) a while to find a reusable straw that works. Sometimes I forget them if I took them out of my bag to clean. While seeing a need to reduce plastics is understood- opt in is seen as a more inclusive route. I agree we should reduce plastic use and I have done so in my life in a variety of other ways. Don’t toss disabled people under the bus for something that is not actually the end-all-be-all solution for plastic waste.
Here are a few articles for further reading:
1) https://psmag.com/social-justice/saving-the-oceans-with-my-son-and-adrian-grenier
2) https://wheelescapades.com/2018/01/23/the-last-straw/
See also: every time someone gets outraged about pre-cut foods in plastic containers at the grocery store as wasteful.
No doubt a wonderful way to raise revenue. Not enough traffic tickets being written?
they must do something…this is the last straw!