Join the Plastic Free July movement

2022 Youth Conservation Corps members at Vic’s — Contributed photo

Katie Fleming, Solid Waste Coordinator for San Juan County, shares a single-use serviceware law reminder for businesses.

Did you know the San Juan County Council proclaimed July as plastic free? The proclamation recognized the pressing issues around plastic waste, including the fact that plastics are the most prevalent type of marine debris found in our oceans, as well as found daily on San Juan County’s shores, with devastating effects on marine life and human health.

Plastic Free July is a global movement helping millions of people be part of the solution by providing resources and ideas to help us all reduce single-use plastic waste. It’s a great time to make sure we’re all doing our part. In appreciation of this effort, I would like to remind our local businesses about the Washington State Single-use Serviceware Law (RCW 70A.245.080) that went into effect January 1, 2022. Under this law, businesses can no longer automatically include single-use food service items with food orders.

Single-use food serviceware items covered by the new requirements include:

• Utensils (knives, forks, spoons, chopsticks)
• Straws, cocktail picks, splash sticks, and stirrers
• Condiment packets, sachets, or sauce cups
• Cold cup lids except those provided at drive-through windows (hot cup lids are allowed)

To receive a single-use food serviceware item, customers must request it, confirm their choice when asked, or select the item they want from a self-serve station. Customers are also encouraged to bring their own durable, reusable food containers, utensils, and straws to help reduce single-use waste.

I recently spent some time delivering information about this law to businesses in Friday Harbor with a group of students from the San Juan Islands Youth Conservation Corp. We were so happy to see many of our restaurants following the requirements perfectly. From Vic’s Drive-in no longer using plastic tops for milkshakes and only providing straws on request, to a self-serve tray for single-use items at Haley’s, it was great to see our businesses actively reducing their plastic use.

Nearly one trillion single-use food service products are disposed or littered each year in the United States, according to a 2021 Upstream report. Single-use food serviceware items are also a major contaminant in Washington’s recycling system that decreases the value of recycled materials. Reducing their use will protect the Salish Sea, help the recycling system run more efficiently, and contribute to our existing ethic of waste reduction and reuse in San Juan County.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me ([email protected] or 360-762-5821) with any questions. You can also visit the State of Washington’s single-use serviceware website for information, tools, resources, and detailed compliance requirement. For more tips on how to reduce your plastic use, visit the Plastic Free Salish Sea website.

You can support the San Juan Update by doing business with our loyal advertisers, and by making a one-time contribution or a recurring donation.