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Vancouver is the first Canadian city to ban plastic straws

It's also banning foam take out containers and cups, starting June 1 2019

Sarah Huntingford/Flickr 

Vancouver became the first Canadian city to ban single use plastic straws, although the move won’t take effect until June 2019.

The city’s government approved the motion this week, alongside the prohibition of polystyrene foam take out containers and cups.

It is part of the city’s ZeroWaste 2040 plan, which aims to make the third largest city in Canada a “zero waste” place.

According to city officials, 57-million plastic straws are thrown out every day. And plastic straws make up 2 percent of Vancouver’s shoreline litter. Every week, 2.6-million plastic lined paper cups and 2 million plastic bags are thrown in the garbage in Vancouver.

Other cities around the world have adopted other measures aimed at tackling waste, plastic in particular. Montreal and Victoria have banned single use plastic bags, although the latter is facing a lawsuit over it, while places like San Francisco, Austin, and Los Angeles have implemented fees or limits. Ireland’s bag tax has reduced plastic bags by 96 percent, according to the city of Vancouver, which notes that bag bans alone have not proved effective overall. Taiwan, France, Rwanda and the UK have other plastic fighting initiatives on the go, to varying degrees of success.