ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- City council members voted Thursday to support a voluntary request-only ban on plastic straws. That motion will be brought to the entire city council in July.
The St. Petersburg City Council Health, Energy, Resiliency, and Sustainability Committee, though, is continuing talks about a law that would make you ditch the straw.
The committee is torn between deciding whether a voluntary campaign is enough or if the city needs an ordinance banning plastic straws from all St. Petersburg businesses.
Councilwoman Gina Driscoll said, “As we move forward and especially as we start talking about potential legislation, no matter what we do, I want to make sure that the business community is with us. This isn't something we're doing to businesses, but with businesses."
Guest speakers from the business and science communities as well as the Chamber of Commerce spoke and answered questions at Thursday’s committee meeting.
For now, the committee voted to support a voluntary ban, which means businesses can individually decide to limit their plastic straw usage by implementing a request-only policy, switching to paper straws, or whatever solution they see fit.
That motion will be discussed with all of the city council at their July 12 meeting.
The ‘No Straws St. Pete’ campaign has picked up a lot of steam, with more than 100 businesses already limiting their straw usage.
On their website, you’ll read a lot about facts and figures, so 10News reporter Liz Crawford decided to put the stats to the test.
She spent one hour with Theresa Arenholz, director of Sea Turtle Trackers picking up trash at Clam Bayou Nature Preserve. We wanted to know how many straws are really littering our community.
Liz and Theresa found at least 100 straws in just one hour.
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