Local resident group calls on Aurora to stop sucking, ban plastic straws

Straw Free Aurora collects 800 signatures, presses for two-phase elimination of plastic straw use

Yorkregion.com
September 18, 2018
Teresa Latchford

Ariana Dalie is calling for a straw-free Aurora.

Armed with global plastic pollution statistics and backed by an 800-signature petition, the local resident stood at the podium at town hall calling on councillors to consider the implementation of a two-phase plan that would ban the use of single-use plastic straws in restaurants and other businesses in town.

“Straw Free Aurora is a grass-roots organization formed by concerned community members living in the Aurora heritage conservation district,” she said. “Why do we care in Aurora? Plastic pollution is a global issue, and we believe that taking any action in our town will make a difference.”

The first phase of the proposed plan would be to pass a policy that would require eateries to only provide single-use plastic straws to customers who request them rather than automatically providing them with every drink served.

The second phase would require eateries who currently use plastic straws to either replace them with paper or reusable straws or ditch the use of straws all together.

She pointed out the impact of single-use plastics, including straws, have on the world’s oceans isn’t new news and that many coastal cities, businesses and leaders have already pledged to ban the use of single-use straws to help reduce the volume of plastic pollution.

United Nations figures show nearly nine million tonnes of plastic, such as bottles, packaging and straws, enter the ocean each year. That’s the equivalent of dumping one garbage truck of plastic every minute. Single-use plastic straws account for about 2,000 tonnes of this waste with Canadians using about 57 million straws a day, and only 20 per cent of those are recycled.

The UN estimates there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans by 2050 if the current disposal rate of single-use plastics continue.

This pollution can kill marine life and find its way into the human food chain, Dalie told council members and the audience.

The UN has launched a campaign with the hopes of eliminating major sources of ocean litter, such as single-use plastic products, by 2022.

“We understand to implement a reduction and an eventual ban will require buy in from local eateries in our community,” she added. “We are fully committed to making Aurora a straw-free community and will continue to offer our support to council.”

When asked why plastic straws, Dalie explained it was the easiest thing to tackle first.

“A straw is something that is easy to get used to not using,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t tackle more plastics in the future.”

Many companies aren’t waiting for municipalities to make the call. One of Canada’s largest restaurant companies, Recipe Unlimited, has already committed to making the switch to paper straws by March 2019. This will mean a number of restaurants in Aurora, including State & Main, Kelseys, East Side Mario’s, Swiss Chalet and The Keg will be making the switch in the new year.

Town council thanked her for her presentation, many adding they thought it was a great initiative and referred it back to town staff for exploration.