St. Pete 1st West Coast City To Ban Plastic Straws, Styrofoam

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- A standing room-only crowd crammed into St. Petersburg City Council chambers Thursday night with a single purpose: convince the city council to ban single-use plastic straws and Styrofoam cups and containers.

Following a two-hour public hearing in which nearly 40 residents, including a 6-year-old environmental activist, spoke in favor of a city ordinance banning plastic straws and Styrofoam, the council voted 5-2 in favor of the ordinance.

This makes St. Petersburg the first governmental entity of Florida's west coast to impose a ban on plastic and Styrofoam.

The ban on plastic straws will begin in January 2020, according to city sustainability director Sharon Wright. The Styrofoam ban will begin in January.

The all-out ban comes after a voluntary campaign to convince eateries to quit giving out plastic straws, which are responsible for the deaths of thousands of marine creatures and sea birds.

While it was an admirable effort, resident Corey Givens said voluntary initiatives simply don't work.

"Everyone was enthusiastic at first but, after the novelty wore off, it was back to business as usual," he said.

Since plastic was first invented in 1907, the non-biodegradable material has been accumulating in landfills and oceans. According to the nonprofit environmental organization, Kids Save Ocean, there is now more than five trillion pieces of plastic in the world's oceans with 269,000 tons floating along the surfaces.

"Voluntary bans never work," said Givens. "It's a quick fix to a long-term epidemic."

Jazzy Duarte, director of sustainable initiatives at the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg, said she recently organized a beach cleanup and was horrified by the amount of plastic and Styrofoam strewn along the city's beaches.

"We picked up 50 plastic straws in the first hour of the cleanup," she said.

The effort to outlaw plastic straws will begin Jan. 1 when the city will instruct eateries to hand out plastic straws on a request-only basis to get both businesses and consumers accustomed to life without plastic straws. The all-out ban will go into effect a year later. A first-time violator will receive a warning. The penalty for a second violation is a $40 fine and subsequent violators will be fined $80.

Wright said more than 650 businesses will be impacted by the plastic straw ban.

The Styrofoam ban would apply only to businesses contracted by the city or businesses on public property including food trucks. Those businesses would not be penalized in 2019 when the ban goes into effect. However, during the second year, use of Styrofoam will earn violators fines of $40 to $80 as well.

An estimated 250 businesses will be impacted by the Styrofoam ban.

Council member Ed Montanari hesitated to impose these kinds of restrictions on businesses already struggling as a result of red tide. He proposed a permanent voluntary ordinance but was outvoted 4-3.

Council member Gina Driscoll said Thursday's approval of the ordinance is a necessary first step to protect Florida's fragile coast.

“This small change will make a big difference when everyone is participating," she said.

Driscoll, along with council members Amy Foster, Brandi Gabbard, Charlie Gerdes and Darden Rice voted in favor of the ordinance.

Montanari, Steve Kornell and Lisa Wheeler-Bowman opposed it.

Image via Florida Department of Environmental Regulation

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