By Kaitlin Lebon

Everyone knows the story. Plastic is a persistent environmental pollutant, taking hundreds of years to decompose. Plastics we throw away every day are eroded by physical environmental processes like waves on a beach, making it possible for new, tiny bits of plastic to enter the food chain at every level. Marine organisms from birds to fish to corals are consuming these plastics, drawn by the look and even the taste of the debris.

Banning some single-use plastics is a way to alleviate this growing environmental crisis; the idea is to reduce supply by reducing demand. That’s why starting on June 20, 2018, Seattle is moving towards reducing plastic use by banning plastic straws and eating utensils. But just because something is banned does not mean it immediately vanishes. How do cities enforce anti-plastic measures, and what are the incentives for restaurants and similar establishments to follow these rules?

The City of Seattle is no stranger to creating and enforcing progressive green laws. In 2012, Seattle banned plastic bags. All retail and grocery stores in the city are now prohibited from providing customers with plastic bags (but exemptions exist for take-out food, small bags for meat, vegetables, and newspapers). Instead of plastic, customers may purchase paper bags from the stores for a minimal fee. While many initially complained of the extra cost of buying bags, the City’s rule expressly included this mandatory charge to serve as a reminder for people to shop with their reusable bags. Retailers continuing to provide plastic bags can face a fine of up to $250.

While Seattle is taking steps to reduce its dependence on plastic, other cities and countries around the world are following suit, each with its own methods of enforcement. Rwanda is taking a particularly aggressive approach to eliminating single-use plastics, making it illegal to import, produce, use, or sell plastic bags and packaging. Smuggling plastic bags into the country is akin to smuggling drugs; those caught with the contraband may be fined, jailed, or even publicly shamed.

Although Seattle has not resorted to such drastic measures, compliance is always an issue for new rules. There are random inspections in every neighborhood and in all types of stores, but City of Seattle officials say that most of the monitoring and enforcement of the plastic bag ban comes from complaints from consumers or competing businesses. This has led to generally high compliance with the ban; apparently, consumers are effective (and free) enforcement from the City’s perspective. Fining a business is a last-ditch effort to achieve compliance, and thankfully it is a step the City has not needed to use. This situation in Seattle highlights the larger potential for consumers to drive the success of public policy. For example, businesses in Seattle might profit from having a good reputation in the eyes of consumers as a result of closely following Seattle’s green policies.

So how will Seattle handle enforcement and monitoring for the upcoming plastic straw and eating utensil ban? Most likely very similarly to the plastic bag ban. The City has already started easing businesses into the transition. Seattle has been working closely with the companies that produce and distribute the food packaging materials to local restaurants and businesses. So far, according to City officials, these distributors have been very clear with their customers purchasing straws and utensils about what the new City rules will be, and in making sure that their products will comply with requirements. In addition, the City of Seattle will be holding outreach events involving local businesses to educate them on upcoming changes, as well as to remind them of current policies like the plastic bag ban.

Time will tell how effective the upcoming ban on straws will be, but if it is a popular as the plastic bag ban, then single-use plastic straws may soon be a thing of the past in the Emerald City.