California may introduce a bill that will see waiters facing up to six months imprisonment and a $1000 fine for offering plastic straws to customers.

The ingenious bill, proposed for environmentalist reasons, has been introduced by the California Assembly’s Democratic majority leader Ian Calderon, who said in a press release on January 18:

“We need to create awareness around the issue of one-time use plastic straws and its detrimental effects on our landfills, waterways, and oceans. AB 1884 is not ban on plastic straws. It is a small step towards curbing our reliance on these convenience products, which will hopefully contribute to a change in consumer attitudes and usage.”

The press release then goes on to say that “plastic is a material that lasts forever, yet 33 percent of all plastics are used just once and thrown away. Only 9% of all plastics are recycled, but due to their small size and lack of a resin code, no straws are ever recycled.”

The bill states that it “would prohibit a food facility, as specified, where food may be consumed on the premises from providing single-use plastic straws to consumers unless requested by the consumer.”

Preventing the usage of plastic straws isn’t a new idea in California. Sit-down restaurants in the cities of Davis and San Luis Obispo have straw restriction laws in place already, with customers having to specifically request a straw with their drink instead of automatically receiving one.

We can all do our bit to save the planet. Some recycle, others put waiters in prison. Never change California, never change.

Source: dangerous.com