(Olympia, WA) -- It's a new year with a new rule in Washington State--intended to reduce use of plastic eating utensils. Restaurants are no longer supposed to automatically include single-use food items like plastic forks, knives, condiments, and straws. According to the Department of Ecology, 1 Trillion disposable food service items are discarded each year, and they are also a major contaminant of the recycling system.

Graphic Courtesy of Washington Department of Ecology

The new law is not a ban on those types of item. Rather, customers must specifically request them in order to receive them with their meals.

Fine more information at ecology.wa.gov/serviceware.

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