PDA

View Full Version : On patrol with Washington’s plastic-straw cop...




phill4paul
01-31-2019, 10:38 AM
WASHINGTON - Warning letters in hand, Zach Rybarczyk patrolled the food court at Union Station, looking for offenders.

Past Auntie Anne's, past Johnny Rockets. At Lotus Express, a Chinese food joint, Rybarczyk peeled the wrapper from a red straw and bent the end - the telltale giveaway.

Plastic.

Washington has become the latest city in a nationwide movement to ban plastic straws, and it's up to Rybarczyk, an inspector for the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment, to enforce the new law.

The straw cop left the rattled cashier at Lotus Express with a warning that if the store was still using plastic straws by July, when a grace period expires, it could be fined up to $800.


One challenge facing D.C. restaurants, bars and coffee shops: What to do with outlawed plastic straws?

On the first day the law took effect, a Starbucks store downtown threw away large bags filled with straws, a move that seemed to defeat the purpose of the ban.

The D.C. Department of Energy and Environment advises businesses to keep a small stock of plastic straws for customers with disabilities who need them, while returning the rest to a supplier or sending them to businesses in Maryland or Virginia.

The issue came up in Seattle when activists heralded a restaurant that voluntarily ditched plastic straws before the ban took effect - only to realize that restaurant just gave the straws to a bar across the street.

https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2019/01/30/on-patrol-with-washingtons-plastic-straw-co

:tears::tears::tears::tears::tears:

Origanalist
01-31-2019, 11:12 AM
Sounds like a very fulfilling career.