The National Park Service estimates that Americans use 500 million straws every day - that's 1.6 straws per person, per day. In Oceanside, that would be around a quarter-million straws every day!

The vast majority of these straws are made of plastic, which means that they persist for hundreds of years. During that entire period, they constitute unsightly litter, release carcinogenic toxins, and endanger wildlife (by now, the video of a straw that got stuck in a sea turtle's nostril is infamous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2J2qdOrW44)

Plastic straws are not economically recyclable, and even if they are disposed of properly, they do not readily degrade.

How do plastic straws impact us?

Everyone knows that Oceanside is blessed with beautiful and spectacular beaches. The beaches attract residents and tourists alike. But we must not take our blessings for granted: we must do our best to preserve and protect the treasures we have. And that includes the easy step of reducing our use of plastic straws (in 2015, volunteers from I Love A Clean San Diego picked up over 15000 plastic straws).

This petition asks the Oceanside City Council to take steps to curb the proliferation of plastic straws. The proposal is simple: implement a policy such that plastic straws are not distributed unless a customer requests one.

Specifically:

1. Please pass a resolution supporting the proposed state bill AB1884.
2. If AB1884 does not pass, then enact a local Straws-On-Request ordinance.
3. The current proposed AB1884 exempts fast-food establishments. It's a good starting point, but for a beach city like Oceanside, the harborside take-out restaurants would not be affected: the number of straws going to Oceanside beaches may see little reduction. Therefore, this petition asks the Council to start with AB1884 (or a local equivalent), but to specifically consider a more stringent bill within one year.

We will present this petition to the Council this summer. Show them that you support clean beaches - please sign this petition !