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Single-Use Plastic Bans

Do you support bans on single-use plastics?


  • Total voters
    44
We should especially ban those plastic rings that hold bottles and cans together.

When we have some, we make sure to cut them so they won't strangle an animal that might accidentally come in contact with it. Same goes for yogurt containers and other items that could pose hazards.
 
What do you think of single-use plastic bans that have become more and more common recently. My city Montreal is planning to institute a ban on single-use mainly taking aim at take-out restaurants using plastic utensils and Styrofoam containers but also meat packaged in those Styrofoam trays and plastic warp. The UK has passed a ban on plastic straws, cotton swabs, and other single-use plastics. The EU parliament has also passed a similar ban on single-use plastics. So do you support the efforts of many governments to ban single-use plastics and reduce waste?

Personally I support these and cannot wait until my favourite take-out restaurant is forced to use something other than Styrofoam.

It'll be great for the logging industry.
 
These bans represent a gross level of misinformation and misplaced energy.

Single use plastic is ideal for the type of uses they are used in. They are sanitary, and can be used again and again when recycled.

Alternatives to plastic, typically some type of paper based material, have to be treated with something to make them suitable for use with food, which makes the unrecyclable, and non compostable.

If people really cared, they'd do something to educate themselves, rather than draw conclusions based on emotions that aren't based on any facts.

You do raise important parts that should be included in the national discussion. I consider myself reasonably well educated, but I did not know that landfills discourage biodegradable stuff or that such could cause problems. And I didn't realize that paper product can pose more problems to the environment than the plastics.

So you have educated me today and I will rethink the biodegradable concept until I actually do know what I'm talking about. I'm standing firm on incentives for people to find profitable ways to repurpose pretty much everything we throw away though. :)
 
What do you think of single-use plastic bans that have become more and more common recently. My city Montreal is planning to institute a ban on single-use mainly taking aim at take-out restaurants using plastic utensils and Styrofoam containers but also meat packaged in those Styrofoam trays and plastic warp. The UK has passed a ban on plastic straws, cotton swabs, and other single-use plastics. The EU parliament has also passed a similar ban on single-use plastics. So do you support the efforts of many governments to ban single-use plastics and reduce waste?

Personally I support these and cannot wait until my favourite take-out restaurant is forced to use something other than Styrofoam.

I oppose the bans personally, but I support local governments' rights to enact them. States and provinces have no place to tell local governments not to do this.
 
No one is saying that, it is a ban. They want people to find other alternative materials for things like paper straws (A&W does that here) or bamboo utensils.

Paper straws suck because the taste like paper and last maybe 15 minutes before collapsing.

Restaurants here tried them. Customers hated them. In fact, before going back to plastic, winking and offering a plastic straw from the preferred customer stash was typical for us as we are regular locals who know the servers.
 
I live in southern CA., (San Diego), home of the best margaritas in the nation. Trust me when I say sipping a margie through a paper straw is beyond intolerable and an insult to humanity. It just ain't right!
I don't mind a ban on plastic straws if it saves a turtle, but make an exception plz., and bring back my plastic straws for margaritas.
 
I live in southern CA., (San Diego), home of the best margaritas in the nation. Trust me when I say sipping a margie through a paper straw is beyond intolerable and an insult to humanity. It just ain't right!
I don't mind a ban on plastic straws if it saves a turtle, but make an exception plz., and bring back my plastic straws for margaritas.

bless you !
 
Bio-degradable stuff does not really save landfill space. Also bio-degradable stuff produces methane since it is in a oxygen free spot. More bio-degradables means more methane gas released into the atmosphere resulting in more effects on the climate. My local landfill that I use does not capture methane gas. The largest town that use the same landfill has a ordinance against plastic bags. That means that said law is causing more methane to be released into the atmosphere.

Half assed solutions can be worse than well thought out and backed by research and science solutions. We should let the people qualified on such things make the suggestions rather than political activists. This after all a a field of science and government bans (or un-bans see trumps crap) are usually not based on science on things like this.

Let science fix this conundrum then suggest their solution and if laws need to be enacted then the political debate can start. Until then the government needs to stay out of the way of science.
I don't know the numbers, so I can't argue the ratio of degradable to non-degradable refuse. But it's a bit scary to be producing stuff that, for most purposes, sticks around nearly forever.
 
I don't know the numbers, so I can't argue the ratio of degradable to non-degradable refuse. But it's a bit scary to be producing stuff that, for most purposes, sticks around nearly forever.

Its only scary if said stuff is toxic.
 
I live in southern CA., (San Diego), home of the best margaritas in the nation. Trust me when I say sipping a margie through a paper straw is beyond intolerable and an insult to humanity. It just ain't right!
I don't mind a ban on plastic straws if it saves a turtle, but make an exception plz., and bring back my plastic straws for margaritas.

I always thought the rim of the glass was coated with salt to enhance the taste of the drink. You would lose that using a straw....but....glass straws are made, and if you use a straw for a cocktail I think glass might be nicer than either paper or plastic.

Glass Straws Made in USA | Eco Friendly and Reusable | By Hummingbird – Hummingbird Glass Straws
 
There is probably some law against that based on a public health risk.
Something could be worked out, for example customers accepting the risk of using their own containers, and the food safety up to the point of it being placed in the customer's container being regulated - perhaps the restaurant can have accept/refuse veto on a given container?

Or standardized reusable containers that are washed by the restaurant or a service for such to an acceptable standard, then used to transport food to customers and returned to the service or the restaurant.

Frankly the former would be easiest, but there might be issues with odd containers, and such.

The latter would involve an entire infrastructure to support standardized reusable containers.
 
Something could be worked out, for example customers accepting the risk of using their own containers, and the food safety up to the point of it being placed in the customer's container being regulated - perhaps the restaurant can have accept/refuse veto on a given container?

Or standardized reusable containers that are washed by the restaurant or a service for such to an acceptable standard, then used to transport food to customers and returned to the service or the restaurant.

Frankly the former would be easiest, but there might be issues with odd containers, and such.

The latter would involve an entire infrastructure to support standardized reusable containers.

The problem is with the restaurant's serving utensils or personnel touching the customer introduced containers. The option of no longer using one time use containers for to go food orders is dependent on the cost of the containers (are they to be purchased by new customers in addition to each meal initially?), having to wash them (for re-use if they are returned) and the odds of them being returned on a regular basis (any that are taken out may never be returned).
 
The problem is with the restaurant's serving utensils or personnel touching the customer introduced containers. The option of no longer using one time use containers for to go food orders is dependent on the cost of the containers (are they to be purchased by new customers in addition to each meal initially?), having to wash them (for re-use if they are returned) and the odds of them being returned on a regular basis (any that are taken out may never be returned).
Perhaps the solution is to have the containers remain single-use but be easily biodegradable or recyclable.
 
Perhaps the solution is to have the containers remain single-use but be easily biodegradable or recyclable.

That seems to be the best idea. The main loss would be the insulating quality of styrofoam but customers with a need for it could place the other containers (or the food product itself) into their own (better?) insulated or heated/cooled containers.
 
Perhaps the solution is to have the containers remain single-use but be easily biodegradable or recyclable.

Ocean took us to school on that issue. Biodegradable isn't as environmentally friendly as many have been led to believe. Nor are paper/cardboard products necessarily better than single use plastic and often are far worse.

I am pushing for recyclable stuff including single use plastics or single use anything--repurpose pretty much everything we throw away. Somebody somewhere is going to figure out how to make that profitable which currently it is not.
 
Are you going to include single use throw away diapers? You will if you are serious.

Excellent point! They cannot (to my knowledge) be recycled. Styrofoam can. I put all my styrofoam and plastic into the recycling bin.
 
Montreal banned plastic bags but a lot of places ignore it but others embraced it enthusiastically. In particular Dollarama, Canada's largest dollar store, their reusable bags are actually really good and really cheap, I see people with them everywhere now.

I think it's unrealistic to ban plastic bags. Sometimes they are necessary. I get my groceries delivered and they are brought in plastic bags. Due to mobility issues, I cannot grocery shop myself. The bags go into the recycling bin. When I go out, I take cloth bags with me for any purchases I make. I've been doing that for over 25 years.
 
Why? They can easily be replaced with other things.

With what? How do you suggest I remove nail polish? I could use kleenex, but then that would also go into the landfill. I can do all 9 nails with one or two cotton balls but would use more kleenex than that.
 
Banning styrofoam and plastic will not fix that. Landfills are not sustainable with or without plastic and styrofoam. The biggest problem is that society believe that a trash can is a magical place where whatever they discard magically goes away. Thus most people buy and throw away crap on a regular basis.

Having to pay per bag of trash helps cut down on that. We pay $2.50 per bag of trash, but recycling is free. It's a great incentive to use the grey and blue boxes, even if you don't care about the landfills.
 
Having to pay per bag of trash helps cut down on that. We pay $2.50 per bag of trash, but recycling is free. It's a great incentive to use the grey and blue boxes, even if you don't care about the landfills.

Im guessing that the poor people just dump it somewhere. ANd quick google shows that illegal dumping is a big problem in your area of the world. Huge fees for dumping trash is incentive for illegal dumping, always has been always will be since its so easy to do.
 
What do you think of single-use plastic bans that have become more and more common recently. My city Montreal is planning to institute a ban on single-use mainly taking aim at take-out restaurants using plastic utensils and Styrofoam containers but also meat packaged in those Styrofoam trays and plastic warp. The UK has passed a ban on plastic straws, cotton swabs, and other single-use plastics. The EU parliament has also passed a similar ban on single-use plastics. So do you support the efforts of many governments to ban single-use plastics and reduce waste?

Personally I support these and cannot wait until my favourite take-out restaurant is forced to use something other than Styrofoam.

Over 30 years ago LI NY banned Styrofoam
 
With what? How do you suggest I remove nail polish? I could use kleenex, but then that would also go into the landfill. I can do all 9 nails with one or two cotton balls but would use more kleenex than that.

Have you considered a microfiber cloth?
 
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