Eco-police blotter update: Restaurant inspectors in DC are STILL finding plastic straws in spite of ban

Doug P. | 1:49 PM on January 14, 2019

Apparently restaurants are being a bit slow to comply with the plastic straw ban in Washington, DC. Don’t make them have to ask twice!

The DC plastic straw ban is real. The city is sending environmental inspectors to restaurants to make sure they are complying with the new law. Eventually, restaurants will be fined if they still provide plastic straws. Absolutely insane. https://t.co/Y7kr5grVQp

— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) January 14, 2019

From the “having solved all other problems” department we find this:

Environmental inspectors began enforcing the District’s new plastic straw ban Tuesday, and so far, there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Of the first six restaurants Environmental Protection Specialist Lillian Power inspected inside of Union Station, all six – Shake Shack, Thunder Grill, Le Pain Quotidien, Pret A Manger, Au Bon Pain, and Sbarro – were still using plastic straws.

Overall only six of the 33 restaurants that were inspected provided customers with compliant compostable alternatives.

“The ban has been in effect for like six, seven days now so what we’ve seen is a mixed bag,” Power said.

According to the report, non-compliant restaurants will only get warnings until July, at which time “fines will range from $100 to $800.”

The great thing about DC is how they solved their 19% dropout rate, unsafe public housing, school to prison pipeline so they can finally focus on what really matters. https://t.co/ZTbGVo9vBs

— mitrebox (@mitrebox) January 14, 2019

Priorities!

What do you do in the govt? Me, I'm a 'straw inspector' sometimes I go undercover and catch servers handing out straws without asking the customer if they want one. It's fulfilling work. I'm doing my part to save the planet.

— Scott (@retiredfirecapt) January 14, 2019