Reposted from AC Pharos
As of July 1, restaurants, bars, and resorts on Pacific Northwest coastal city of Seattle could be fined up to $250 for use of disposable plastic utensils. However, the ban began in 2008 in response to concerns about plastic pollution. There are estimates that, at 8 million tons a year, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050.
While most of the decade was spent in due process for restaurant owners and the hospitality industry in Seattle, the majority of the extensions were from there being no practical way to implement the ban. Alternatives such as paper products were not cost effective for small businesses at the time. Further, they create other environmental problems since paper products require several times more energy to make than plastic.
Opponents of the ban citing governmental waste usually begin their arguments with quality of life issues, such as use of utensils at homeless shelters or children still learning their way around utensils. Critics also cite that
90% of all plastic in the ocean are actually coming from 10 rivers, all of which are from countries in Africa and Asia that do not have the facilities for trash collection like the U.S does.
Culture, Practicality, and Actually Addressing the Plastics Overtaking our Food Chain
The ban in Seattle may have very little impact on the issue itself. However it could, at length, aggravate innovation for a low-impact, biodegradable alternative for plastic utensils.
"We need to think about how we're using these materials, which are designed not to biodegrade," says Law, "They're designed to function for a very long time."