Kickstart: No mystery about this sea monster

Plastics have been evicted from the COP26 global climate summit in Scotland. Or, rather, a plastic inflatable Loch Ness monster was confiscated before it could be set afloat in the River Clyde in Glasgow as part of a protest of what a group said is an insupportable debt burden on low-income countries.

The "Loch Ness Debt Monster" is about 4 meters tall, 8 meters long and 3 meters wide, but Police Scotland told the media that it violated maritime restrictions on the water for security issues at the COP26 venue. Police collected the inflatable creature before it could be released from a nearby dock.

"The debt crisis facing lower-income countries has been excluded from debate at COP26 and now police have prevented the 'Loch Ness Debt Monster' from highlighting this fundamental issue," Eva Watkinson of Jubilee Debt Campaign said in a news release. "Lower-income countries' unsustainable debt is preventing them from fighting the climate crisis. And when climate disasters hit, countries are pushed into further debt to pay for reconstruction."

Barrette Outdoor Living Inc. is staking its claim to more of your decks, fences and railings.

The Cleveland-based company has rebranded all of its holdings under the Barrette Outdoor Living umbrella and has created a new trademark for itself as "the outdoor company."

"The campaign empowers homeowners to bring their outdoor spaces to life — however they envision it — encouraging them to 'step outside and live their best life,'" the company said in a news release.

The rebranding covers DuraLife composite decking, vinyl and aluminum railing company Xpanse Greater Outdoors and RDI, a Barrette composite and metal railing and fence brand.

Earlier this week, Plastics News posted a story from our sister magazine Crain's New York Business about how some restaurants and coffee shops have returned to using reusable cups and takeout containers now that life with COVID-19 has become more normalized.

As CNYB reporter Cara Eisenpress noted, some shops had offered a returnable container program before the pandemic, seeing it as a more sustainable offering than single-use foodservice containers. And for restaurants having problems with supply chains, the reusable products provide a bit of relief.

But that's not the only foodservice issue before New Yorkers.

New York City Council members are considering the "skip the stuff" ordinance, which would require restaurants and shops to provide single-use utensils for takeout orders only upon request.

In an op-ed in CNYB, Lauren Sweeney — co-founder of Deliver Zero, a reusable takeout container startup — says that not only are unwanted utensils wasteful, they also cut into shops' profits.

"In most small businesses, every dollar saved matters," she wrote. "When locally operated restaurants put utensils in every takeout order, they are essentially throwing money away with each order: The plastic products they spend money on often go unused."

A committee hearing on skip the stuff is expected this month.