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Banning Straws, Plastic Bags and Styrofoam in Jalisco


Ferret

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Picked this up from San Pancho Life... Heads up! Too bad the four photos of animals in distress because of plastic didn't copy well.

Good news from Jalisco - Banning straws...

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico - Before the end of the current legislature, the State Congress intends to approve the bill to prohibit the use of straws, plastic bags and even Styrofoam throughout Jalisco, in order to stop the environmental damage caused by these products, especially to marine fauna.

With this measure, all municipalities must adapt their regulations before the end of the year to begin the ban from the first day of 2019, Citizen Movement Deputy Verónica Jiménez informed.

"What we are proposing is that the warnings and regulations be put into force as of January 1, 2019, and communicated throughout the year to make the public aware and socially conscientious, and beginning on January 1, 2020 violators will be fined."

The proposal arose from the initiative presented in Puerto Vallarta by city councilman Juan José Cuevas, based on the observations he had made about the indiscriminate use of straws in that tourist center.

The initiative will propose reforms to the State Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Protection of the Environment, as well as to the Law of Integral Waste Management.

This will generate some obligations for the State Government, such as promoting research and development of technologies and companies that replace plastic bags, straws and Styrofoam, said Jimenez. In addition, support programs should be created to promote the companies dedicated to the production of said products (provided they are biodegradable), to the recycling and reduction of these materials. They also have to generate awareness campaigns and create incentives for the general public to replace plastic bags, Styrofoam and straws with eco-friendly alternatives.

"This is very important because it is not just a question of prohibiting plastics, but also of generating incentives aimed at economic entities that substitute plastic bags, straw and Styrofoam for biodegradable products."

The responsibilities for the 125 municipalities are to regulate and sanction the use of these products, as well as to generate environmental education campaigns, agreements with companies that replace their plastics with biodegradable materials, monitor compliance with the prohibition and establish sanctions.

Jiménez explained that during 2019 stores will only be put on alert so that businessmen who have accumulated merchandise can use what is already stored in their warehouses during that time.

"We are going to issue warnings so that the use of these products is discouraged until the first of January of 2020, at which time whoever uses or sells them will be sanctioned and fined. What we want is for our municipalities to be free of these harmful contaminants."

Original article translated and edited by José Antonio Gonzalez for BanderasNews.com

 

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I'm all for it.  This stuff has become a noxious environmental hazard and an eyesore.  People just aren't going to be responsible about the use and disposal of it.  Those plastic bags and straws get dropped everywhere radiating out from the Tianquis.

 

 

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1 minute ago, Mainecoons said:

I'm all for it.  This stuff has become a noxious environmental hazard and an eyesore.  People just aren't going to be responsible about the use and disposal of it.  Those plastic bags and straws get dropped everywhere radiating out from the Tianquis.

 

 

But the alternative will be disposable cups dropped everywhere......even more of an eyesore!  We need more garbage cans and better garbage pickup!

 

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And so if we ban plastic straws we need to ban all plastics in the grocery stores like yogurt containers, butter tubs, plastic bags containing chicken that is frozen or vegetables, plastic and styrofoam with meats, plastic plates, forks, baggies etc, just to name a few........This could turn into a ridiculous proposal, but if you are going to ban one thing, then you need to ban another in my opinion.  

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They already have successfully done what you described in many cities up North, Ceilo. In Seattle, for example we use paper grocery bags, and much if not most of the plastic used up there is recyclable or biodegradable. In fact. Instead of tons of garbage per household, most items are placed in biodegradable or recyclable collection bins. Most all food waste is sent to a compost pickup, and honestly the amount of garbage one throws out, is about 1/4th  to 1/8th of what it was before this all started. It is working very well.

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7 hours ago, suegarn said:

What about all the locals that I see walking around Ajijic drinking juices out of a plastic bag with a straw?  What are they going to do when this ban takes effect?

People need to start traveling about with reusable cups, utensils, etc, in their cars and bags. In Canada, I found that almost everyone now has reusable cloth shopping bags which they take to the store with them. It's really not a big deal- if people are committed to reducing this environmentally dangerous waste, it's not that hard to do one's part.

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7 hours ago, suegarn said:

What about all the locals that I see walking around Ajijic drinking juices out of a plastic bag with a straw?  What are they going to do when this ban takes effect?

People need to start traveling about with reusable cups, utensils, etc, in their cars and bags. In Canada, I found that almost everyone now has reusable cloth shopping bags which they take to the store with them. It's really not a big deal- if people are committed to reducing this environmentally dangerous waste, it's not that hard to do one's part.

7 hours ago, suegarn said:

But the alternative will be disposable cups dropped everywhere......even more of an eyesore!  We need more garbage cans and better garbage pickup!

 

The answer to the garbage problem is reducing garbage, not more garbage cans and pickup.

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I already saw, just last week on our table at Cocinarte in Ajijic, a container of straws with a little rope/string tied around some plastic straws saying they're not offering them any more and will be prohibited in the future. Good for them. Let the educating begin.

As anyone who's from anywhere environmentally aware up north knows, you have to hope there is an initiative to educate the young kids in schools. It's going to take a long time.

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The whole straw thing was started as a project by a schoolkid who mistakenly guessed at the number of straws used daily in the U.S. That being the case, the reduction of plastics must neverthelessbe paramount. As Cielo rightly points out, there are so many more items... as we all know. While discussing this very topic a a burger joint the other day, after using my paper straw presented to me in a paper wrapper, I wondered about the paper and the trees. And the topic then turned to the multitude of creamers in plastic on the table, the foam containers for leftovers... and our own grocery lists of yogourts, shrink-wrapped packages, carrots in plastic bags, and so on.

Simply banning straws up north will have almost no impact. I read that the very food we eat is now full of microscopic particles of plastic. What happens when a foreign body invades our cells? Cancer happens.

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21 minutes ago, ComputerGuy said:

 

Simply banning straws up north will have almost no impact. I read that the very food we eat is now full of microscopic particles of plastic. What happens when a foreign body invades our cells? Cancer happens.

So are you implying that they should not ban plastic straws because it will "have almost no impact"?

Also, do you have the source about plastic in the body. I would like to know where the plastic is coming from.

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But up north, in Seattle, for example, many other items are no longer available in Plastic. So the next step straws meant some sense.

At grocery stores, unless you bring your paper bag pack, they charge you extra. It is against the law to use plastic bags. And most food items wrapped in what appears to be plastic but is recyclable. In many cities in the North of like programs or will soon be implementing them.

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29 minutes ago, Tiny said:

So are you implying that they should not ban plastic straws because it will "have almost no impact"?

Also, do you have the source about plastic in the body. I would like to know where the plastic is coming from.

Now that would be just silly. My point: banning only straws is nonsensical. As far as the source, an NPR story, heard while I was driving.

I do have a source for the 500,000 straws: https://reason.com/blog/2018/01/26/a-list-of-the-500-million-news-orgs-that

I stopped using products with plastic beads about two years ago, after hearing a different NPR report.

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30 minutes ago, Ferret said:

Ferret, thanks for the link. I asked CG because I wanted to read the link he was talking about.

Here is a couple of statements from the link you sent me.

"in foods or water it had leached into from plastic containers"

"the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes often used for water lines in modern homes."

So enjoy that next glass of water from that water jug just delivered or the tap.

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26 minutes ago, ComputerGuy said:

Now that would be just silly. My point: banning only straws is nonsensical. 

CG, we need baby steps. 

Can you name another plastic product that could be banned that would have less impact on people's lives? Banning one is big.

We need to start somewhere or shut up talking about it.

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Obviously. But the discussion of what to do first or next is beyond my purview. Right now it's the same as the argument about light bulbs: almost no impact from the "ban" of incandescents on worldwide energy useage, but yes, we have to start somewhere. Nowhere in my posts did I say we should not start somewhere.

Let's look at it in another light: a panacea law banning plastic straws would tend to placate the immediate outcry, ending in a misleading conception that we are doing our part, while ignoring the requirement for much stronger options.

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