The Washington Post had a really interesting article this week about the implementation of the Washington D.C.'s plastic straw ban. The ban went into effect at the start of the year but enforcement isn't going to hit restaurants until July 1.
The story follows a worker from the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment as he tries to find restaurants still using plastic straws and warn them about the coming changes. The story is very well rounded and goes beyond simply following the working to different restaurants. There were some interesting points made, including many of the locations switched to biodegradable straws, but they are still being thrown away and likely won't biodegrade.
And Aardvark, a maker of plastic alternative straws, is so swamped with work they want New York City to hold off any potential ban of plastic straws until 2020 because they can't keep up with orders.
“All these bans just started hitting at once,” said David Rhodes, global business director for Aardvark. “The last thing we want to do is start a movement and be in a position that we can't meet the demand.”