Suffolk County NY restaurants use a tremendous amount of plastics in the form of straws and styrofoam/plastic take-out containers. These provide convenience to customers, but most of this is not recycled and becomes waste. The County itself also has food concessionaires at its Parks facilities which could switch to offering biodegradable cutlery and containers as well as reducing plastic styrofoam peanuts in packaging.

Meanwhile, plastics are either incinerated or may end up in waterways. The impacts of plastic waste on our environment are well documented. According to the Ocean Conservancy, “Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastics enter our ocean on top of the estimated 150 million metric tons that currently circulate our marine environments.” Ingested plastic has been found in more than 60% of all seabirds and in 100% of sea turtles species. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), has classified styrene as a probable human carcinogen and the US EPA says the polystyrene manufacturing process is the fifth largest creator of hazardous waste in the United States.

Fortunately, we now have a great opportunity to change this situation and make a big difference!! : ) Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hanh is proposing a suite of 4 resolutions -- banning the use of polystyrene foam containers; banning plastic straws and requiring restaurants to only distribute biodegradable straws by customer request only (so still available if needed); prohibiting single use plastics being distributed by County owned and operated Parks food stands; and, encouraging sustainable packing materials to be used when shipping materials to county departments.

Local Law 1112 A LOCAL LAW TO PROHIBIT THE USE OF POLYSTYRENE FOAM CONTAINERS IN SUFFOLK COUNTY

Local Law 1113 A LOCAL LAW TO REQUIRE SINGLE-USE BEVERAGE STRAWS AND STIRRERS BE DISTRIBUTED IN SUFFOLK COUNTY “BY REQUEST” ONLY

Local Law 1121, A LOCAL LAW TO PROHIBIT THE DISTRIBUTION OF SINGLE USE PLASTICS IN COUNTY PARKS

Local Law 1206 A LOCAL LAW TO ENCOURAGE SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING MATERIALS FOR GOODS PURCHASED BY THE COUNTY

Many alternative food container options are available in the market so businesses should be able to adapt; and the more that do will cause prices to become more competitive.

Please sign this petition to support these efforts!!

Green Inside and Out is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization that raises awareness of environmental health issues and green consumer choices, and is pleased to serve as a member of the Suffolk County Single Use Plastics Reduction Committee, created in 2018 by Legislator Hahn.

We recently ran a "Strawless Suffolk" campaign in downtown Huntington Village, and created a list of alternative straw providers to help make the transition easier. Many restaurants want to be responsible and are already moving in that direction! We applaud their leadership! : ) https://greeninsideandout.org/resources/plastics/