According to studies cited at the city’s Open Space, Environment, and Energy Committee meeting last week, sturdy bamboo is one alternative to plastic. Others include paper and steel.

By Denise Keniston

An ordinance regulating the distribution of plastic straws and stirrers was met with some resistance at the Somerville City Council’s Open Space, Environment, and Energy Committee meeting on February 20.

The proposed ordinance would ban plastic straws and stirrers in Somerville bars and restaurants and any other public location that distributes straws.

Plastic straws are necessary for some people with disabilities. As such, an amendment to the ordinance would allow for anyone with medical needs to request a plastic straw, for example in a restaurant or bar. However, Ward 2 Councilor J.T. Scott believes requiring anyone with a disability to ask for a plastic straw is invasive. “I’m having a hard time getting past someone ordering their smoothie, then having to disclose to their cashier they have, for example, cerebral palsy or some other non-visible disorder that requires them to use a plastic straw,” said Scott.

Plastic banning, including plastics straws, is now gaining momentum. Larger American cities like Seattle and San Francisco who have passed plastic straw ordinances are still ironing out issues of enforcement.

L to R: Counselor At-Large Wilfred Mbah, Ward 5 Councilor Mark Niedergang, and Ward 2 Councilor J.T. Scott.

In the meantime, several European countries, in the name of combating plastic pollution in the oceans, have begun banning various plastic products: utensils, bottles, and bags that often get thrown away after one use. In December 2018, the European Parliament signed a provisional agreement to ban ten kinds of single-use plastics – including plastic cutlery and straws – by 2021, Popular Science magazine reports.

In just the U.S. alone, one estimate suggests 500 million straws are used every single day. One study published earlier this year estimated as many as 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute the world’s beaches, according to National Geographic.

Closer to home in Somerville, councilors addressed questions of accessibility reflected in the ordinance; for example, restaurants and bars offering bamboo or steel straws as alternatives and providing plastic straws only on request. Ward 5 Councilor Niedergang addressed plastic straw alternatives. “We believe that there are now more robust alternatives (to plastic straws) that will hold up to heat and water, such as bamboo and steel. Council President Katjana Ballantyne and I very much want to move forward on this ordinance and parallel what’s been happening across the country.”

Should the ordinance pass, there will be penalties for any establishment cited for distributing plastic straws. The first offense will result in a warning, the second will result in a $100 fine, while third and subsequent offenses will result in $300 fines.

Committee members kept the ordinance ‘in committee’ to provide time to invite business leaders, the disabled and School Committee members to either provide feedback or attend the next meeting of the Open Space, Environment, and Energy Committee. The Committee will continue the discussion on the ordinance with a goal of sending it to the full council at the next meeting on March 20, 6:00 p.m., at Somerville City Hall.