War on waste: Adelaide City Council looks to ban plastic straws at events
SINGLE-USE plastic straws are set to be banned from Adelaide parklands, city square and council-run events, in a push from the Deputy Lord Mayor.
SINGLE-use plastic straws are set to be banned at events in the parklands and at any run by the Adelaide City Council.
The council will next week vote on a proposal by Deputy Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor to ban the use of any plastic straws at council-run events and those in the parklands and city squares.
If accepted, the ban would come into place from January 1 and Councillor Verschoor said the council was already in discussions with organisations who had existing leases to encourage them to also go down this path.
“It’s been on the radar for a while,” she said.
“I’ve had a lot of discussions with the Lord Mayor and council staff about how we make our events more environmentally sustainable and how we cut down on our waste.
“So this will be one of the last chances while we are in this term to do something about it.”
The move comes as more Adelaide bars and hotels ditch plastic straws.
Australians use an estimated 10 million straws every day, or 3.5 billion a year, with single-use plastic straws among the top 10 items found on shores and beaches, according to advocacy group Ocean Conservancy.
Cr Verschoor said if the ban was accepted by fellow councillors, event organisers looking to renew leases post January 1 would have the ban on single-use plastic straws imposed as a condition.
She said there were a number of alternatives, such as paper, bamboo, glass, metal and even spaghetti straws.
The ban would not apply to individual people using them outside of events.
Lord Mayor Martin Haese said he was extremely supportive of the push.