In March, the Oceanside City Council rejected a draft plastic reduction ordinance written by city staff that would have prohibited food establishments from using EPS foam foodware by June 2022, and required them to distribute single-use plastic straws, utensils and other food accessories upon request only by July 2023.
They instead instructed staff to turn the ordinance into a “resolution” that requires zero action, merely encourages restaurants to be better stewards, and supports statewide action against plastic pollution in theory. In other words, the resolution accomplishes nothing despite documented widespread support from Oceanside residents that they’d like the City to address plastic pollution.
While we agree with the council that the city’s draft ordinance was far from perfect, we are disappointed that they’ve decided to take zero action locally to reduce the scourge of plastic pollution along their incredibly popular stretch of coastline.
Therefore, we are urging the City Council to direct staff to draft a simpler #SkipTheStuff ordinance that will require all food establishments to distribute single-use plastic straws, utensils and other food accessories upon request only by January 1, 2022 (rather than by July 2023, which was the date on the rejected draft ordinance).