Working to Ban Plastic Straws in Maryland

Co-Owner Dan Simons has been working hard to eliminate plastic straws across the DMV. In addition to founding Our Last Straw, he has been working with government offices and agencies on ways to regulate plastic straws.

DC’s plastic straw ban started in January. Since then, Dan has widened his scope to include Maryland.

As a council member and resident of Garrett Park, MD, he recently introduced an ordinance banning plastic straws, which was voted on and unanimously passed Monday night. The ban will go into effect on March 4, 2019, making Garrett Park the very first town in Maryland to implement a plastic straw ban.

The evening’s council meeting had some very unique and important testimony from Our Last Straw’s Eddy the Turtle and his friend Finn, who spoke for him, “We wouldn’t throw our trash in your house, so please don’t throw your trash in ours.”

On Wednesday, Dan testified in front of the Maryland’s Economics Matters Committee and the Environment & Transportation Committee at a hearing focused on banning plastic straws across the state. His testimony, available in full on LinkedIn, shared his perspective as a business owner and restaurateur, “I promise, businesses do not need plastic straws in order to succeed. We can thrive with bio- and marine-degradable alternatives. We can thrive by educating consumers that most of the time they don’t really need a straw at all.”

Farmers Restaurant Group has never distributed plastic straws. In our restaurants, we use an assortment of biodegradable and marine-degradable straws including hay and paper straws. We are continuing to work with restaurant owners, operators, and others in the hospitality industry to move the Our Last Straw mission forward in order to support supply chain solutions for businesses, as well as educate businesses and the public.

Follow Our Last Straw’s efforts and partnerships on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

To keep up with what Dan is doing to eliminate plastic straws and more, subscribe to his blog at www.DanSimonsSays.com or follow him on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

*Pictured above with Dan Simons are Maryland State Delegate Sara Love, Laura Bankey from the National Aquarium, and Ashley Van Stone from Trash Free Maryland, among others.