Plastic pollution is poisoning our entire planet. Luckily, there is a simple and easy solution to this growing problem that more and more states and cities are getting wise to: Just make it illegal. One of the latest cities to ban plastic foam and single-use plastic takeout containers is Roseville, Minnesota, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
Roseville's new ordinance will require all takeout containers to be compostable, recyclable, or reusable starting Jan. 1, with enforcement beginning Jan. 1, 2026. (Presumably some warnings will be issued in the meantime.)
Single-use plastic bans are becoming an increasingly popular, and incredibly effective, method of cutting down on plastic pollution. According to the U.N. Environment Programme, 1 million plastic bottles are purchased every minute, and over 5 trillion plastic bags are used each year. Half the plastic sold each year is single-use, and a huge percentage of that makes its way into the ocean and natural environment, where it chokes wild animals to death and sheds endless particles of microplastics that are now being found in every corner of the planet.
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Other recent single-use plastic bans include Illinois' banning hotels from providing shampoo and such in single-use plastic bottles, Massachusetts' banning state agencies from buying single-use plastic products, and Washington's banning styrofoam containers.
Opponents of these bans have mainly been the businesses that recognize single-use plastic products as the cheapest way for them to deliver food and other products to their customers. These businesses would have you believe that their right to make as much profit as humanly possible supersedes our collective right to live in a world that is not being drowned in plastic pollution. However, that is simply not the case.
Roseville's new ordinance comes as the state just passed a bill requiring packaging to be reusable, compostable, or recyclable by 2032.
"This is kind of a ramp up to that," Roseville sustainability specialist Noelle Bakken said. "I'm hoping it will start inspiring other communities to move in this direction as well."
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