Devan Adegbile

By: Devan Adegbile

 

According to USA Today, “Within the last year, cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, Fort Myers, Florida, Malibu, California, and Vancouver have banned the use of plastic straws, while others, such as New York, are moving in that direction. Companies including Starbucks, American Airlines and Disney, have announced that they’re eliminating plastic straws.” City Councilman, Rafael Espinal, has introduced a bill that will ban plastic straws in restaurants, stadiums, bars, and cafes across New York City.

 

Mayor Bill de Blasio agrees that plastic straws must go as they are bad for the environment. According to Eyewitness News, Espinal referenced an incident in Spain, in April, where a whale washed up on the shore with over 60 pounds of trash inside the stomach..Espinal hopes to spread awareness about how our everyday use of plastic ends up in landfills and can wash into the waters, affecting many sea creatures such as turtles, fish and whales. If this bill is passed, anyone who acts against this bill will be fined $100. The only exception to this bill would be the people who need a straw to drink due to a disability or medical condition.

 

A young woman who works in New York City said she supports the bill. “I feel that the ban on plastic straws is a great start, especially because the concept seems to really be taking off and becoming very popular with big businesses. With that being said, I am a little skeptical because straws make up such a small amount of the plastic used overall. I definitely feel as though the ban on plastic straws is a step in the right direction and I’m hopeful that we can continue to reduce our plastic usage even more as time goes on” she said.

 

According to Eyewitness News, if we continue our plastic use, by 2050 there will be more plastic floating around our oceans than there are fish in the ocean. Only 9 percent of waste is recycled. “I don’t believe there are any huge obstacles. It’s not like plastic bags, where consumers felt it was important for them to carry out their groceries. A straw is not a necessity for most New Yorkers, so I think this is more of a change of thinking.”.

 

“Americans throw out an estimated half-billion plastic straws every single day” said Espinal in Eyewitness News.  

 

“Personally, I am all for the ban on plastic straws – it’s a small step but it’s one in the right direction. The state that our planet is in right now is scary and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. I fear for our future generations and what they will have to go through due to our carelessness in protecting our earth. I hope that this ban can bring more awareness to the subject and help to eliminate harmful products in the future.” said Sinead.

 

This proposal does not ban environmentally friendly straws such as aluminum or paper straws. According to USA Today, “Aardvark paper straws debuted in 2007, as the anti-plastic movement began to emerge. In the 10 years since reintroduction, the company has seen year-over-year growth”. “This last year’s growth, however, is beyond anything the company could have expected: 5,000 percent.” It is said that due to a bill against plastic straw use the demand for an alternative paper straw use is higher than ever before.

 

You’re riding your bike in the crowded New York City streets to get food because you are starving and haven’t eaten anything all day. You come up to a stop light for what feels like forever and get annoyed, wishing you could just ride through the light without getting hit by a car. Well…you can!

 

Summer Streets is an annual celebration that takes place on three consecutive Saturdays from 7am to 1pm in Manhattan. You can freely ride your bike, walk on the side, or run along Park Avenue between City Hall Park and East 72nd Street and Central Park with no cars in your way.

 

Summer Streets gives New Yorkers the opportunity to experience the city in a whole new way. It’s a way to encourage people to take a more enjoyable and sustainable form of transportation. According to the Summer Streets website, “In 2017, nearly 300,000 people took advantage of the open streets.”

 

Five rest stops along Park Avenue offer activities such as yoga, dancing, food stops, a 30 foot zip-line and more! The best part is that it is entirely free. Summer streets is for all ages, not to mention it’s a way to start your Saturday morning. This year Summer Streets takes place on August 4, 11 and 18. Some riders even go to Summer Streets every year so they don’t miss out on anything.

 

Despite the fact that it was pouring rain, I went to Summer Streets on August 4 with my dad and rode my bike, stopping along the avenue to ask workers there some questions.

 

A volunteer at Summer Streets standing beside a table filled with New Yorkers making origami and learning how to ride bikes has been working at Summer Streets for the last five years. “People love Summer Streets in the rain. We had two young boys learn to ride bikes in the rain and they were ecstatic. I think this separates the rain lovers from the rest of us,” she said.

 

She continued to explain that, despite waking up at 4:30, she loves that she can share her joy of bicycling with everyone. “I would recommend Summer Streets to everyone, There is something for everyone here,” she said.

 

On the other side of the street, riders could get a customized helmet and take pictures in a tent. One of the volunteers working in that area had just started volunteering for Summer Streets that day. He goes to Stuyvesant High School. “Of course I would recommend Summer Streets to anyone, it’s super fun and brings people together. You can ride your bike in the wide open street with no cars. I went with my family to Summer Streets every year and this year I decided to volunteer,” he said.

 

According to the Summer Streets website, “Summer Streets is modeled on other events from around the world including Ciclovia en Bogotá, Colombia and the Paris Plage in France and has since inspired other such events around the world such as Ciclo Recreo Via and London’s Regent Street Summer Streets.”