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Encinitas carries the war beyond plastic straws
Cups, plates, knives, forks, spoons
8 out of 10 pieces of trash collected on county beaches are plastic.
Eat out — but don't throw it out. That's what the city of Encinitas has tried to encourage when it comes to dining and plastic leftovers.
However, the city's ban on styrofoam and plastic straws in 2020 didn't address the mountain of other disposable plastic foodware like utensils, plates and cups.
Now, the environmental commission is working on an amendment to require single use foodware be compostable or reusable.
Even though most North County cities have passed stronger plastic ordinances, cleanup crews observe the same trend, year after year: eight out of 10 pieces of trash collected on county beaches are plastic.
In 2024, they collected 33 percent more plastic fragments than the year before.
Everywhere scientists look, from marine life to human organs, they find plastic. A recent study suggests human brains may contain a teaspoon of microplastics; levels that may have increased by 50 percent since 2016.
At the same time, restaurants and grocers haven't always found it easy to transition to cleaner materials.
Products advertised as "compostable" often aren't — or they require commercial composting facilities. EDCO, the city's waste hauler, composts food scraps but not plastic foodware because it may not break down (even paper takeout boxes can have plastic coatings).
"To this day, numerous restaurants are spending enormous amounts of money, way more than they would have if they'd bought a non-compostable plastic item, and it's still going to landfill," said Russell Levan, president of the Solana Center board, an environmental non-profit.
A new state law that takes effect next year will help. The Better Composting Standards Act ensures that products labeled as compostable are truly biodegradable. Restaurants will know what to buy, and customers will know what can go in the green bin.
But where are the green bins?
In response to a survey sent to food providers last month, some asked if the city is going to replace the current public trash cans with compostable/recycling options?
"To my knowledge there are no easily accessible compost bins in public places near food businesses," one said. "Customers need a place to compost once they leave the restaurant with to-go cups, bowls, utensils."
Without that option, the choices are clear."My customers would likely throw everything away in a standard trash can."
Oceanside requires restaurants and other businesses to provide containers for landfill, recyclables, food scraps and composting. In Carlsbad, bins for composting and recycling are free to local businesses and restaurants.
Commissioners said they may consider a pilot program to install green bins along the 101, as part of their recommendation to the city council.
Reusables face fewer hurdles, and more than half of those surveyed use them. Some said they have no space to store them, serve only to-go or lack dishwashers. Cost savings were only a small consideration, but reusables can save restaurants money. For example, in a case study that looked at how much a restaurant can save, a 12 oz plastic water cup swapped for a plastic tumbler had a net savings of $180 per year.
The containers most used were paper or fiber-based followed by "compostable" bioplastics, then plastic, aluminum and glass. For some, durability was a problem; customers use extra marine biodegradable straws because they don't hold up in milkshakes, though the owner felt good about using the materials.
"There is general support for the effort to move away from single use plastic food ware items, with the exception of grocery store and national chain respondents," a commission report said.
People liked the idea of a purchasing co-op and website list of compostable items and prices, but few embraced efforts to help them pick better products, according to commissioners. The non-profit I Love a Clean San Diego, which has a contract with the city for outreach, tried unsuccessfully to engage just five of the restaurants.
"It's going to take time to implement this," Levan said, pointing to the problem of sorting and disposal that has already been an issue with recycling bins and trash cans. If they're not right next to each other, people will toss everything into whichever one is closest.
"The composting will be the same. They have to be all together. It's going to have to be painfully obvious."
Here's something you might be interested in.
Encinitas carries the war beyond plastic straws
Cups, plates, knives, forks, spoons
Encinitas carries the war beyond plastic straws
Cups, plates, knives, forks, spoons
8 out of 10 pieces of trash collected on county beaches are plastic.
Eat out — but don't throw it out. That's what the city of Encinitas has tried to encourage when it comes to dining and plastic leftovers.
However, the city's ban on styrofoam and plastic straws in 2020 didn't address the mountain of other disposable plastic foodware like utensils, plates and cups.
Now, the environmental commission is working on an amendment to require single use foodware be compostable or reusable.
Even though most North County cities have passed stronger plastic ordinances, cleanup crews observe the same trend, year after year: eight out of 10 pieces of trash collected on county beaches are plastic.
In 2024, they collected 33 percent more plastic fragments than the year before.
Everywhere scientists look, from marine life to human organs, they find plastic. A recent study suggests human brains may contain a teaspoon of microplastics; levels that may have increased by 50 percent since 2016.
At the same time, restaurants and grocers haven't always found it easy to transition to cleaner materials.
Products advertised as "compostable" often aren't — or they require commercial composting facilities. EDCO, the city's waste hauler, composts food scraps but not plastic foodware because it may not break down (even paper takeout boxes can have plastic coatings).
"To this day, numerous restaurants are spending enormous amounts of money, way more than they would have if they'd bought a non-compostable plastic item, and it's still going to landfill," said Russell Levan, president of the Solana Center board, an environmental non-profit.
A new state law that takes effect next year will help. The Better Composting Standards Act ensures that products labeled as compostable are truly biodegradable. Restaurants will know what to buy, and customers will know what can go in the green bin.
But where are the green bins?
In response to a survey sent to food providers last month, some asked if the city is going to replace the current public trash cans with compostable/recycling options?
"To my knowledge there are no easily accessible compost bins in public places near food businesses," one said. "Customers need a place to compost once they leave the restaurant with to-go cups, bowls, utensils."
Without that option, the choices are clear."My customers would likely throw everything away in a standard trash can."
Oceanside requires restaurants and other businesses to provide containers for landfill, recyclables, food scraps and composting. In Carlsbad, bins for composting and recycling are free to local businesses and restaurants.
Commissioners said they may consider a pilot program to install green bins along the 101, as part of their recommendation to the city council.
Reusables face fewer hurdles, and more than half of those surveyed use them. Some said they have no space to store them, serve only to-go or lack dishwashers. Cost savings were only a small consideration, but reusables can save restaurants money. For example, in a case study that looked at how much a restaurant can save, a 12 oz plastic water cup swapped for a plastic tumbler had a net savings of $180 per year.
The containers most used were paper or fiber-based followed by "compostable" bioplastics, then plastic, aluminum and glass. For some, durability was a problem; customers use extra marine biodegradable straws because they don't hold up in milkshakes, though the owner felt good about using the materials.
"There is general support for the effort to move away from single use plastic food ware items, with the exception of grocery store and national chain respondents," a commission report said.
People liked the idea of a purchasing co-op and website list of compostable items and prices, but few embraced efforts to help them pick better products, according to commissioners. The non-profit I Love a Clean San Diego, which has a contract with the city for outreach, tried unsuccessfully to engage just five of the restaurants.
"It's going to take time to implement this," Levan said, pointing to the problem of sorting and disposal that has already been an issue with recycling bins and trash cans. If they're not right next to each other, people will toss everything into whichever one is closest.
"The composting will be the same. They have to be all together. It's going to have to be painfully obvious."
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