An environmental group is urging you to ditch plastic straws in Ocean City, Maryland, this summer.
The Ocean City chapter of the Surfrider Foundation has launched a “Strawless Summer” campaign to help cut down on plastic pollution on beaches and in waterways and oceans.
The foundation is asking Ocean City restaurant owners, residents and visitors to sign a pledge to say no to plastic straws.
A 2017 International Coastal Cleanup report found that straws were one of the top ten items collected globally on the coastlines. Americans use an estimated 500 million straws a day, according to the Be Straw Free Campaign. The campaign says each person uses on average about 1.6 straws a day, or 584 a year.
"Skip the straw. Save a sea turtle," reads one of the Surfrider Foundation "Strawless Summer" campaign poster. Most of these straws end up in oceans, polluting the water and harming marine life, according to the Surfrider Foundation.
"If we don’t solve our plastic pollution, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in our ocean," Surfrider Foundation says on its website.
Lawmakers in California cities like Los Angeles, Davis, Malibu and San Luis Obispo and places in Florida like Miami Beach and Fort Myers Beach have passed ordinances that limit or prohibit restaurants from using plastic straws, according to NBC News.
