Skip the plastic waste: Why Tompkins County needs a strong ‘skip the stuff’ law

We are all well aware of the need to limit waste and save the environment from discarded plastic, yet at most restaurants, plastic utensils and condiment packages are automatically included with takeout orders.  This is unnecessary as much of the takeout goes straight home where there are reusable utensils and bulk condiments.  Simply requiring that the customer request these items if needed would help the environment (and restaurant costs) enormously.  This is the goal of “By-request-only” –aka ‘Skip the Stuff’–laws.

We ignore this simple solution at our peril.  Currently, 561 billion disposable food service items given out every year in the U.S. result in 4.9 million tons of waste that will be either burned, buried, or littered.  Bioplastics—so-called compostable plastics–behave the same as their fossil fuel counterparts, risking the health of humans and wildlife as they degrade into smaller and smaller microplastics and enter our bodies.

“By-request-only” laws have already passed in two states and 33 cities nationwide, including several municipalities in New York State. However, state and federal laws are often diluted due to industry influence.  For example, comparing a New York State bill currently under consideration to Westchester County’s Skip the Stuff Law, the NYS bill allows plastic straws to be exempt from the by-request-only requirement, permitting restaurants to still provide straws by default with takeout beverages, and lacks specific language prohibiting bundled sets of these  foodware accessories. In contrast, Westchester County’s Skip the Stuff Law, enacted in February, 2023, does not exempt straws and forbids bundled sets, and restaurants are required to provide foodware accessories individually rather than in bundled sets.

This example of how local laws can be more effective than state bills underscores the importance of Tompkins County following Westchester’s lead by introducing and enacting a strong Skip the Stuff law. (In turn, such local actions can encourage the state legislators to adopt stronger measures that better support the health of our communities and the environment.)

A ‘Skip the Stuff’ law also offers practical advantages to local businesses in that by only providing single-use items upon request, restaurants can reduce their expenses. Some businesses in Tompkins County already practice this, recognizing that sustainable operations can save costs while aligning with their customers’ environmental values and countering any concern that enforcement could be difficult.

For all these reasons, it’s crucial that the Tompkins County Legislature join this movement by passing a strong, common-sense ‘Skip the Stuff’ law.  Yet, despite many meetings of our organization Zero Waste Ithaca with legislators and multiple efforts over the past two years to introduce legislation, legislators have been slow to act.

We urge the community to join us in advocating for this simple yet impactful change. To get involved, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us by filling out this form online, or email us at info@zerowasteithaca.org, and please contact your county representatives to support this initiative. 

Sincerely,

Yayoi Koizumi and Dana Wilson for Zero Waste Ithaca

Yayoi Koizumi is the founder of Zero Waste Ithaca, a grassroots environmental advocacy organization. She holds an MA in Philosophy from Howard University, an HBCU, and ZWI collaborates with GAIA, Beyond Plastics, and the Plastic Pollution Coalition. 

Dana Wilson is a very active composer, as well as author and jazz pianist.  He is Professor Emeritus in the Ithaca College School of Music and continues to live in Ithaca, New York.

The Signs of Sustainability column is organized by Sustainable Finger Lakes.