Movements condemning the use of single-use plastics are growing stronger, with plastic straws being singled out as one of the main culprits that pollute our oceans. And for good reason: In the US alone, over 500 million plastic straws are used every day, with the majority of those ending up in waterways. In an attempt to make that number smaller, the state of Rhode Island has introduced a bill that would outright prohibit restaurants from offering straws to their customers. If a restaurant even provides a straw to a customer without being requested to do so, the restaurant will receive a $25 fine. Surely banning straws altogether would make much more sense than creating this hard-to-enforce law, but perhaps it will lead to more conscious behavior from consumers.
Rhode Island to prohibit restaurants from offering plastic straws
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