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11/15/2018 |
Press Release |
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Fremont Launches Skip the Straw Campaign |
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Posted on: November 12, 2018
Fremont Launches Skip the Straw Campaign
The City of Fremont is launching an awareness campaign to help reduce single-use plastic waste in the community. With the ‘Skip the Straw’ campaign, the City is encouraging residents to say no to plastic straws when dining out. This will help reduce plastic pollution, preserve waterways and waste streams, and create a cleaner and healthier future for Fremont.
Every day, Americans use close to 500 million disposable plastic straws—that’s enough straws to circle the Earth 2.5 times! Since most plastic straws cannot be recycled and take up to 200 years to decompose, it is clear that straw consumption patterns need to be reduced. Learn more about the environmental impacts of plastic straws at The Last Plastic Straw.
For those finding it difficult to ‘Skip the Straw’, an easy solution is to keep a reusable straw with you. Options include straws made out of stainless steel, bamboo, hard plastic, or even glass. Alternatives like compostable paper straws are also available but less preferable since they are manufactured and then discarded after one use.
To address the straw pollution problem on a statewide level, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 1884, a California bill that prohibits sit-down restaurants from offering plastic straws except upon request. The law goes into effect January 2019, which makes California the first to restrict plastic straw consumption at a statewide level.
At a local level, the City of Fremont is initiating the ‘Skip the Straw’ awareness campaign as a first step in addressing the issue. The City understands that change is not easy, and the magnitude of the plastics problem can be discouraging. Changing personal behavior and habits may happen gradually, getting easier over time as more community members take on the same action.
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