City of St. Petersburg Plastic Straw and Polystyrene Ban

The LWVSPA Sustainability Action Team supported a ban on plastic straws, utensils, and plastic bags, with exceptions for hospitals, nursing homes, other medical facilities, and people with disabilities, and with a one year compliance period on the ban, during which time there would be a voluntary “by request only” provision of straws. The compliance period allowed businesses time to adapt.

Suncoast Rise Above Plastics, Suncoast Surfrider, the Suncoast Sierra Club, Chart 411, Environment Florida, and other environmental organizations worked hard to get the City of St. Petersburg to adopt a ban on straws and other single-use plastics, and we appreciate their leadership. We are excited to partner with these organizations to protect our waters and our economy. Additionally, the No Straws St Pete program, supported by I Love the Burg,  achieved strong success, with many downtown businesses signing on to their voluntary program; we applaud their efforts, and we appreciate the businesses that have stepped up.