Portland City Council Ready To Restrict Plastic Straws, Utensils

PORTLAND, OR – It's about to get a bit harder to get a plastic straw or plastic utensils. The Portland City Council is scheduled to hear an ordinance on Nov. 14 that will stop restaurants from offering you a plastic straw or plastic utensils.

If you want one, you'll have to ask for it.

The same would be true of those little packets of ketchup, mustard, and mayo.

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The ordinance that the council discuss on Wednesday afternoon was drafted by the city's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability after being directed to do so by the council.

The original plan was an outright ban on the single-use plastic straws but after officials met with disability advocates who pointed out there are many people with disabilities who rely on straws to be able to drink, the plan was changed.

"This policy is not mean to be a 'silver bullet' solution," the mayor's communications director, Eileen Park, said. "We will build off of the reduction goals we’ve set in this first policy. Straws are a great place to start, because the social movement around them mirrors the pressure that mounted around the ban on plastic bags.

"There’s a lot of work to do beyond them."

Portland has a history of using legislation to restrict the use of certain products deemed dangerous to the environment.

Seven years ago it banned the use of single-use plastic bags that you used to get at the supermarket and in restaurants.

In 1990, the city passed restrictions on what everyone calls "Styrofoam" cups and containers. In truth, Styrofoam is a trademark belonging to Dow Chemical for a material that is often used as insulation.

The city restricted the use of polystyrene.

If the council passes the bill – Wednesday is only the first reading – it will go into effecton July 1, 2019.

Photo via Shutterstock.