Local movement seeks to stop plastic pollution

A Santa Cruz woman is out to change the world, one plastic straw at a time. With studies showing trillions of pieces of plastic in the world’s oceans, she’s asking local communities, businesses and their customers to rethink the use of plastic drinking straw.

“The straw lasts maybe five or ten minutes in your drink but it’ll be in the environment forever,” Jackie Nunez of The Last Plastic Straw Movement said. “Is that the legacy you want to leave? Think about it. What are we doing?”

She started her movement three years ago after witnessing plastic pollution in countries all over the world. The straw that broke the camel’s back came from a personal experience at a bar in Santa Cruz.

“I ordered a water and didn’t think anything of it,” Nunez explains. “It came with a straw that I didn’t ask for.”

She says 500 million single use plastic straws are used and thrown away every single day, taking up space in landfills and littering the oceans. It’s a statistic she asked communities and government agencies to consider at an education meeting in Marina. She’s also asking customers to request ‘no straws’ at bars and restaurants, and asking restaurants to give straws out by request only.

Kim Solano, the owner of the Haute Enchilada is Moss Landing has joined Jackie’s cause and offers her customers an alternative.

“We always serve biodegradable straws but we decided to go with a paper straw because it biodegrades much quicker,” Solano said.

Nunez said it may sound like a small change but it could make a big difference.

“We do have a responsibility to the Monterey Bay marine sanctuary that we are all living above.’

While Monday’s meeting was purely educational, talk of a plastic straw ban or ordinance was discussed. She said that is a long-term goal of her organization.