Two Popular Florida Cities Are Banning Plastic Straws

If you like getting your daily morning Starbucks or smoothie, it's time you consider buying a stainless steel straw. Plastics straws are out and stainless steel is on trend. Two cities in Florida are joining the movement and banning the use of plastic straws.

Plastic straws are bad for the environment causing marine debris. There's even a YouTube video showing a sea turtle with a straw up the nostril. Not only straws are non-biodegradable, but they also cause damage to the ecosystem. Americans use about 500 million straws per day. So, it makes sense to make Florida a plastic-free zone state. 

Fort Lauderdale and Coral Gables are becoming anti-straw cities and prohibiting the use of straws, sale or distribution by vendors, in city facilities, and events. Coral Gables is banning the use of straws at parks, city vendors, and permitted events. 

Starbucks has already banned single-use plastic straws and it will be completed eliminated by 2020. The company opted for strawless lids available. Other companies such as Shake Shack, Disney, Marriot, Hyatt, and Alaska Airlines have jumped to the strawless movement and eliminating their stirrers as well. Cities such as Monmouth Beach in New Jersey, Fort Myers, Seattle, Edmons, and 9 cities in California have already banned the use of plastic straws.

Miami Beach has also expanded its ban for plastic straws, and some people are already using the hashtags #StrawsSuck and #Stopsucking that challenge people to stop using straws. The movement wants to raise awareness about the detrimental effect of straw use and it encourages people to have a strawless ocean. 

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However, many people with disabilities disagree with the ban of straws as these help them to drink better. But, vendors are trying to implement alternatives as paper straws. 

The anti straw movement began with a 9-year-old boy named Milo Cress and his campaign to raise awareness about plastic waste, called 'Be Straw Free'.  About, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic have been produced globally since the 1950s. Since then, many cities have joined the movement to eliminate extra waste in the environment.

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It's about time we keep the environment clean and have greener cities in Florida.