Marin Passes Resusable Foodware Ordinance!!

On April 19th, 2022 we skipped school (for a good cause) and made our way to the Marin Civic Center. We had been preparing our speeches for this meeting for a very long time, but we were still nervous. The meeting that we were going to was a meeting about passing an ordinance that would ban all single use plastic to-go ware in Marin County.

In 2019, we met with Supervisor Rodoni to talk about banning plastic straws in Marin, and that meeting inspired him to make this ordinance! We got to the meeting and we told the Board Of Supervisors why they should consider this ordinance, along with maybe fifteen other people! It was wonderful how many others came to show their support! We told them about how much single use plastics harm our county - the humans, the animals, ecosystems, and more - and also mentioned how long we had been rooting for this ordinance and working against single use plastics.

In the end, the Supervisors decided that this ordinance was important for our county, and decided to consider it! We were so happy that the Supervisors were letting it pass. Only one more step to go.   

On May 10th, 2022 we again visited the Supervisors at the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael. Having previously gone to a county meeting, and knowing that the Supervisors had put this ordinance into high consideration, we wrote a small speech of thank yous and reminded them of the difference between bioplastics and regular plastics.

There were not many speakers in person besides ourselves, because people could guess that it was being passed, but there were several people on Zoom. After a very long wait from the people on Zoom, finally the Supervisors could vote on whether they believed our county should still go through with this ordinance. Everyone voted positively and on May 10th, 2022, the Reusable Plastics ordinance passed! Now we start the 18-month wait until it goes into effect.  

- Reese & Viola

Marin Considers Reusable Foodware Ordinance

We sent a letter to the editor to the Marin Independent Journal, and it was published! Here is the text of our letter.

Dear Editor,

We are two 7th graders who want to let you know about a very important meeting. On April 19th, the Marin Board of Supervisors will cover an ordinance banning single use plastic to-go ware in Marin. The ordinance would encourage restaurants to use reusable or compostable foodware. The summary of the ordinance is: reusables are best, compostable fiber foodware is compliant, and single-use plastics (including bioplastics) are prohibited. Reducing the amount of single use plastics not only is vital for the oceans and marine life, but it also reduces litter in our communities, and lowers the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted from single use plastics production. 

COVID-19 has been hard on businesses, but the plastic they offer to customers is destroying our earth and it needs to stop now. The plastic gets into water systems and the ocean, and harms marine life and ecosystems. Plastic never decomposes. It only breaks down, and becomes smaller and smaller. Killing our oceans is not worth a plastic coffee cup, plastic straw, or plastic utensils that you will only use once. Having this ordinance passed in Marin is very important for our community. 

What can you do?

• Call the Board of Supervisors to show your support.

• Help local businesses understand why the ordinance is important.

• BYO straw, container, utensils, travel mug and more.

 It’s important to do your part even if it feels small and unimportant. We think that even though banning single use plastic utensils may seem like a small step, it shows that we can do so much more if we keep pushing for what we believe in, and what is important for our county, country, and planet as a whole. 

Thank you,

 Reese Patton, San Geronimo Valley & Viola Seda, Point Reyes Station

Link to Marin IJ’s Reader Forum