San Francisco leaders vote unanimously to ban plastic straws, single-use foodware

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco's board of supervisors voted unanimously to join cities such as Vancouver, Berkeley and Seattle in banning plastic straws.

The legislation proposed by Supervisor Katy Tang not only includes the elimination of plastic straws, but many non-recyclable plastic items like coffee stirrers. It also includes language that would make San Francisco the first city in the country to ban fluorinated chemicals in food containers. Because San Francisco uses 1-million plastic straws a day, the issue took center stage.

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"I wanted to start with legislation to change containers like coffee cups which we use every single day, but wanted to then start a bit smaller for now and then move on the other items in the future." says Tang.

"We are dedicated to protecting our coast and waterways from the harmful effects of plastic and our disposable culture," said Eva Holman, the Program Lead for the Rise Above Plastics Campaign of the San Francisco Surfider Foundation.