CA Lawmaker Wants To Prohibit Straws At Restaurants In California, Unless Requested

Assemblyman Ian Calderon, a Democrat from Whittier, says he wants to prohibit sit-down restaurants in California from giving straws to customers unless they request them.

By Felicia Czochanski on January 19, 2018

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Assemblyman Ian Calderon, a Democrat from Whittier, says he wants to prohibit sit-down restaurants in California from giving straws to customers unless they request them. The proposed legislation would exclude fast-food restaurants. Calderon says he is introducing the legislation after reading reports by environmental groups that up to 500 million plastic straws are used and then thrown away every day in the United States adding to the landfills and ending up in lakes and oceans.

Calderon tweeted, “How long have people know[n] that plastic is harmful to the environment? Still we all use it. This is a measured approach that helps change behavior.”