YORK, Maine — York has become Maine's first town to ban single-use plastic utensils. Voters recently approved the new town ordinance, banning the use of single-use plastic utensils, straws, and stirring sticks.
The new ordinance will go into effect in May 2025 to give restaurants, schools, catering services, etc. the chance to use the rest of their plastic supply. Health facilities are exempt from the ban.
"For beach towns, high tourist areas, an ordinance like this is going to help solidify what we see for the long term. We’re trying to make sure that York has sustainability [so] that we can enjoy its beauty for years to come," Taylor Maguire, the town of York's environmental planner, said.
Charlie Caramihalis owns Fat Tomato Grill in York. He said buying other sustainable utensils, like biodegradable or reusable, will cost two to three times more than plastic utensils.
"It's not only the business owners, especially small business owners, that are going to spend a lot more money on products. We need the consumers to realize that it doesn't come without a cost for us, which ultimately means potentially prices going up to cover some of these added costs," Caramihalis said.
Students at York High School spearheaded the initiative, bringing it to the town's select board last summer.
"It makes us a really good town to act as a role model for other communities," Maxine Adelson, a member of the school's Eco Club, said.
Adelson, Chloe Whitbread, and Aidan Ring led the initiative after working to reduce plastic in their school for the past two years.
"We’re the future of the environment, so us leading the effort I think will hopefully encourage other towns to make similar efforts and other high school students in other towns across the country to make similar efforts," Whitbread said.
Maguire said she thinks this ordinance is overdue and York will be a trailblazer for other communities.
"I think this is absolutely the shift that everyone is going to start making in the U.S.," Maguire said. "The fact that student activists brought this ordinance to the town to begin with I think really shows what people want to see in the future."