San Francisco is fighting the good fight — no, not the fight to clean up the city’s fecal-infested streets or the burgeoning homeless population — but the greatest beast of them all: plastic straws.
According to Newsmax, the SF Board of Supervisors took up a proposal to ban plastic straws on Tuesday, a proposal in line with other woke cities like Seattle. The proposed ban would also prevent vendors from using takeout containers made with fluorinated chemicals.
“The legislation prohibits eateries from using plastic anti-splashers, stirrers and other plastic items that environmentalists say are too small to be recycled properly,” reports Newsmax. “Retailers would no longer be able to sell the items starting July 2019. In addition, food and drink vendors would be allowed to dispense cutlery, napkins, condiments and lids only on request or through self-serve stations.”
The proposed ban has struck a certain chord with disabled communities, which say a plastic straw ban would limit their ability to eat certain food or drink. Despite that, the city largely supports the measure.
“It’s a movement not just happening in San Francisco but nationally and internationally,” said Peter Gallotta, spokesman for the city’s Department of Environment. “The larger elephant in the room is the single-use disposable culture we find ourselves in, and straws are the epitome of this unnecessary daily waste.”
The Washington, D.C.-based Plastics Industry Association has denounced the bans in both Seattle and San Francisco, saying the cities would be better if they focused on recycling technologies. “Regardless of what a straw is made of, we can all agree that it should not end up as litter,” it said.
The proposed ban comes at a time when San Francisco is currently experiencing a public health crisis, becoming a city whose sidewalks are frequently littered with urine, feces, and discarded syringes. A website that allows residents to request maintenance has received 16,015 complaints with the keyword “feces” in the last week.
“Homeless encampment is blocking sidewalk and creates a health hazard w trash and feces,” wrote one user. “Please move them, and send a cleaning crew. Sidewalk is impassable, forcing pedestrians into the street.”
“Homeless individuals sleeping along Funston between Clement and Geary,” wrote another user. “Observed homeless people shooting up at 5pm on Monday, July 2nd. Lots of feces and garbage in the area. Please clean up area and see if homeless individuals need services.”
According to Yahoo News, San Francisco distributes an estimated 400,000 drug syringes every month in the name of reducing HIV among drug users. Of that number, 246,000 syringes get discarded in the city’s 13 syringe access and disposal sites while the other remaining thousands end up on the streets, sidewalks, parks, or other public areas.
Earlier this year, NBC News reported that the homeless haven of San Francisco has become so filth-infested that the city spends approximately $30 million a year to clean human feces and syringes off the sidewalks.
Nothing better illustrated the absolute disgust permeating the city than the 20-pound bag of human feces that was littered on the sidewalk earlier this month: