SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Does Patty Kuderer realize plastic straws stat came from a kid?

Jan 11, 2019, 5:37 AM

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One Bellevue senator wants to ban plastic straws throughout Washington. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A state politician, Sen. Patty Kuderer (D-Bellevue), has filed a bill that would ban plastic straws throughout Washington. Seattle has already banned plastic straws, but she wants it to be statewide.

As I’ve told you, the stat that has been constantly repeated by politicians and celebrities is phony — that Americans use 500 million plastic straws every day.

That 500 million plastic straws stat was taken from a school project done eight years ago by a then-10-year-old in Massachusetts. There is no way that we use almost two straws for every single American every day.

RELATED: Plastic straw ban — out of Seattle and on to Washington state

And now we’ve got a state senator who wants to make this ban statewide. If passed, violators would be fined $25 per day. You’d have to pay $25 per day for using a straw. But there is a $300 limit to this. So for 12 days a year you’d get tickets, and then after that you can use all the straws you want.

What a crew we’ve got leading things around here.

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Dori: Does Patty Kuderer realize plastic straws stat came from a kid?