California Bans Individual Hotel Toiletries

I don't understand why they would eliminate all hotel toiletries, rather than just those that are packaged in plastic. Soap bars are packaged in paper, so they don't cause any plastic waste.

The shampoo and conditioner is the same whether it is in individual bottle or large ones. That is not true with soap. Forcing us to use liquid body wash rather than soap is extremely unfriendly to the customer.

Longer timeline to implement: existing stock and existing supply contracts? Does anybody know what the contracts between hotels and beauty brands look like (i.e. mandarin and aqua di Parma and ritz Carlton and Bulgari, etc)? Are hotels paying full freight or are promotional considerations being made?

Gross

Woohoo, about time.

I hate running out of shampoo in the middle of a shower due to the tiny bottles as well as reduced plastic waste.

Be interesting to see how the really fancy brands, i.e. Ritz, or even fancier boutique hotels handle this.

Sometimes government goes overboard and in this case they definitely did. Why not give hotels option of using single use biodegradable plastic containers or refillable large bottles? Instead they went heavy handed and decided banning is the right way to go. Often times there is more ways than one to solve a problem... just saying.

I think the most important point is what brand of product will be in those bottles, especially at high end hotels? Sure the label says Le Labo or Ferragamo. But is it really?

Hopefully Trump uses his presidential power to veto this silly law. I like cute small bottles of shampoo.

So excited California spent more time with needless legislation. Even more excited I left California!

Uh Jackie, I assume you were kidding, since this is a state law so #45 has no say in the matter.
But back to the topic: what am I going to do when my big stock of mini hotel shampoos begins to run low!!!

Um, Jackie,

No US president has the power to veto any state law.

Good move. It's also time to ban amenity kits in business class. Such a waste. Toothbrushes and paste can be given upon request or staffed in business class toilets. Moisturizers can be dispensed from larger bottles in toilets.

Good, there is enough plastic garbage everywhere, from bags to snuff bottles.
Check out Henderson island, if you wanna know, it's near Pitcairn island in the middle of nowhere and gets all the plastic poured in by first and third worlds.

Really you need state legislation for shampoo bottles? Wow.

DO NOT see this really happening in high end hotels.

The law is AB-1162 and it's just poorly worded. For instance, what they're banning is defined as

(5) “Small plastic bottle” means a plastic bottle or container with less than a 6-ounce capacity that is intended to be nonreusable by the end user.

Hmm... I refill my 50 ml Dermalogica minis constantly. So if you can take off the cap and refill the bottle, seems like no problem then. Will teams of investigators be dispatched around California to test if any remaining mini toiletries can have their caps unscrewed and the bottles refilled? Sounds like an easy gig. Where can we send resumes?

I can’t wait to see the reaction by everyone who is supporting this when someone does something gross with your dispenser for shampoo and body wash. Trust me it’s going to happen. Product tampering is real. Government overreach to the nth degree.
California should concentrate on their homeless problem first before going to such measures.

Those cheering this decision remind me of this meme

https://me.me/i/wants-more-government-turning-point-usa-c9-bll-c8-cig-63a1bcd11d404ca4a6fa1746cf57a4a9

I think people are going to buy the 'travel size' shampoo etc at grocery store and take with them.

So these will just fill up the waste anyway unless John Q. Traveller refills them at home each time.

I hate the large bottles as always empty or pump clogged etc

All I can say is thank god they have already solved all of the important problems in California and can focus on issues like this. Good thing they don't need to worry about homelessness, crumbling infrastructure, or anything else. What a luxury!

I’m happy with this move - a small step to reduce plastic waste that won’t cause much inconvenience (I think a lot of the commentators are overreacting). I actually like the larger bottles because I have long hair and sometimes need more conditioner than is in those tiny bottles - and no need to squeeze or pound the bottles to get the last bit out.

Agree with Kevin.

Although I support hotel-led initiatives to reduce individual disposable plastic toiletries, this is a problem that simply does not need such heavy-handed government intervention. Even if public policy is the solution, surely there are less paternalistic methods to achieve the end result (e.g. taxation, subsidies, favorable contracting). It seems a bit extreme to put plastic containers on the same level as toxic substances in terms of allowed uses.

@ Anton - if you feel amenity kit is such a waste then dont accept it, banning is extreme and not necessary, airplane is 100 times more dirty than hotel rooms, do you even know how long will they even clean your seat ? let alone the toilets ? i will definitely not use any pump bottles in the toilet. By giving individual toothbrush and paste upon request will require even more plastic wrapping, ever thought about that ?

I'm so tired of those virtue signalling idiots. That's exactly why Trump is gonna win again in 2020.
Anyway, most of the plastic used for that purpose is biodegradable so what's the actual problem they are trying to solve....downgrading hygiene practices is apparently a way forward for the backward virtue signalling c*nts.

CA governor need to focus on more urgent issues, impacting his state citizens everyday. Virtue signaling and pandering to a certain group while people and businesses flee the state.

Time to buy the minis in bulk and just toss at checkout. Maybe I'll save all my empties and toss them in Cali. Also, support free Hong Kong.

Great job for the hotel lobby capitalizing on this climate nonesense to save companies money. I mean, if we were serious about this we’d be talking to China which is singly responsible for over half the plastic waste in the ocean. But that involves independently verifiable facts and logic, so that’s none of my business.

Go ahead, brainwashed masses, unleash your rabid hatred on someone on the internet with a different opinion than you ;). Just saying this is all about a corporation’s bottom line and not the environment - they just think you’re stupid enough to buy this garbage. Pun intended.

This is not about the environment, its about MONEY!!!!!

Dude, you're flying X-thousand miles a year on credit card rewards. I don't think you are in a position to point your finger upon people with regards to environmental problems.

This is the type of thing I support in theory (even as someone who has quite a stash of mini toiletries that I use at home) because we need to cut down on our plastic waste.

HOWEVER, I have absolutely zero faith in hotels ensuring that the big bottles are not tampered with. I'll end up bringing my own stuff rather than taking the chance of washing my hair with Jayden Aiden's pee.

People will DIE because of this. Not many but some.

There's a higher rate of infection as per a 2011 University of Arizona study.

There will be blood, pee, semen, and other stuff put in. It may cause someone to get AIDS or Hepatitis. Not many but do you want to get it?

The solution is just to encourage people to take excess shampoo home and use it. You can get every drop by putting the little container upside down and drain it into another shampoo bottle that has some shampoo in it. For the last 5 years, I've used 100% of the shampoo supplied by hotels. No waste at all. The bottles are completely empty. If you want to save the planet, drive a smaller car, drive less, don't buy new clothes often (clothes don't degrade well), don't turn up the heat much, etc.

Not sure I get this scare about someone doing something gross in your dispenser. The ones I have seen here in Australia all had those upside down bags in them, making it near impossible to get anything in.
Also, how come nobody get scared by what people do with your bottle of ketchup, your little jar of sugar or those fancy little dishes of fancy pink salt in high end restaurant. Just thinking about all the people touching that salt gets me a little bit sick.

@derek.
HIV scare. Really?
The HIV virus will last about three quarters of a second in a soap container.

Stupid.
Ban all single use plastic bottles and single use baby diapers first!
Silly act this governor is enacting.

Disgusting move. Unhygienic!

So even card or renewable ones are banned?

I recently went on a tour of San Francisco and it also went through part of an area called Tenderloin. I can assure you that California has much bigger problems than individual toiletries!

*single use plastic---- WATER ----bottles
as proposed at SFO airport

Regarding the timing, and also in response to others who think it's heavy-handed - maybe the long implementation is meant to leave room for alternatives? Laws can be amended, and if an exemption for biodegradables makes sense, that can be added in the interim.

@Mike - I don't travel all that much, but I've been in maybe 30 hotels in the US and Europe in the last 3 years, plenty of which had bulk containers, and never saw the bags you're referring to... except for public bathrooms, of course. Also, if a church employee can spread Hep. A to others by touching communion wafers, a guest or employee can do the same (or worse) with toiletry bottles. So it's not only about doing gross things, but also accidental contamination. I'm not worried, as the likelihood is lower than many other means of transmission, but it's not impossible.

Annnnd Gary L just shat himself.

banning wall-mounted bulk toiletries on hygiene grounds, the lawyers are going to have a field day with this one when someone dies or gets sick because of multi use items....

Trump can indeed stop this. Preempt state law. Happened few months ago on car emissions

As a Native Born Californian and resident, I applaud this move. If you can’t live without free single use toiletries, don’t come here and if you live here you’re welcome to leave anytime - we will not miss you! BTW, there’s absolutely no evidence that the population of California is shrinking, rather quite the contrary.

What a joke. This is the Same Newsome who as Mayor of San Francisco contributed to needles everywhere, human feces on every corner of the street, homeless bathing in public fountains and urinating and defacating in broad daylight. Thank you Governor for doing absolutely nothing about the things that really matter and spending tour time and energy on the size of my toiletry kit from a hotel. Truly, you are a joke. Go do your job and clean up the tent cities of homelessness and waste across California.

Why not just put a 5 cent deposit on all the little bottles and call it good?

Good, long overdue.
@david: just buy empty 100ml containers and fill them up with your own products; they can be re-used over and over.

Time to save your empty costco shampoo & conditioner bottles and stock up on a weekender. Crazy California creates crazy ideas. I wonder if enough people did this would the hospitality industry push back against legislation or just raise prices and blame the economy when fewer bookings take place.

Disgusting

OK, I'll admit it - whenever I go to a hotel that I know for sure will have communal soap/shampoo dispensers, and when their brand is high quality (think l'Occitane), I have no qualms about emptying the entire thing in an empty container that I've brought for that exact purpose, and take all the soap back home.

The problem with those dispensers, unfortunately, is that they are rarely refilled. So often times, I check into a hotel room to find them almost/completely empty, perhaps because too many people do the same as me, or perhaps because the hotels are too cheap to check on soap levels...

I also have a massive collection of minis at home, which I take to the gym, or put out for house guests. I guess I'll have to collect more before they all disappear.

I think this is a wise move for hotels. Now hotels can blame CA for helping them save money. Meanwhile, places like Facebook and Google get away by throwing away free food that can feed a migrant family of 16, or was it a migrant employee who took home 16 servings of free food home. Either way, you got to love California and their way of thinking. CA attracts a lot of smart people to tech companies. CA even attracted a homeless Yale graduate. (yes it's in the news)

@Donna

Yep population in CA is not shrinking. More people can live in the streets than anywhere else. Illegal immigrants are always welcome. And all those people can make a living breaking into cars to steal stuff. Oh, water is abundant and forest fire is because global warming. Stores can sell plastic bags for 10 cents while other states give them for free.
Best part, CA lives longer because proposition 65 saves lives and people can extort companies for not warning them that every single thing in this world has chemicals that can cause cancer and birth defects. Did I mention the government is bankrupt and traffic tickets are over $500. Gas is also over $4 per gallon. All this is so good, they now have time to ban hygienic hotel toiletries. Better clean up the tiny bottles than homeless.

Might I suggest someone go ask Jeff Bezos funding to build a homeless shelter from tiny bottle toiletries. Now that is how you two birds with one stone. Wait that guy is too smart to live in CA, after cheating his wife and a divorce he is still the richest dude. That is beyond.

So yes people loves CA and wants to move to CA.

A better move would be to make recycling more feasible:

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-08-05/recycling-center-business-replanet-shuts-down

Most trash collection companies have admitted that they just throw away the items in the recycle bins because they do not have the means to recycle them anymore.

Sad that Newsom is spending time on this when he should be tackling the RIDICULOUS power outage by PG&E. Oh, whoops, forgot...they are his largest campaign contributor.

People get so upset about such silly stuff, don't like it bring your own toiletries. In fact I can't think of the last time I didn't (mostly because my wife packs it but even so...)

Good move California.

Hi native Californian here in exile on the east coast. I like hotels, I like toiletries, but what I don't like is the the damage we're doing to our environment. Is Marriott cheap? Yes. Are our oceans filled with plastic? Yes. This is the right thing to do, and I think we can all adapt and move on. Here are some options: 1) shut up and deal with it; 2) bring your own toiletries; 3) don't go to California. If you have a habit of stealing bulk L'Occitane products to bring home, buy your own shampoo. If you're concerned about getting HIV from a soap dispenser, it sounds like you either have OCD or you're a self-loathing closet case. Either way, get help. If you hate California and can only recite the same talking point about the homeless problem (and yes, there's a homeless problem that doesn't have anything to do with hotel toiletries), don't visit California. They'll be fine without you.

I guarantee some politicians are making money off of this.
Instead of plastic they should put shampoo, conditioner , and soap in ketchup and mayo style packets to minimize waste. It’s not unreasonable to check into a hotel and need shampoo and conditioner. I don’t travel with that.

@derek what kind of pseudoscience are you talking about getting AIDS from reusable bottles and pump. Sure, individuals who lack social etiquette, manners, and common sense will put fecal matter, urine, blood etc but you lack all sorts of validity, saying stupid stuff like that. Communicable diseases sure, but AIDS?

@Eskimo - In 2018 California had a $9 Billion surplus. In case you haven’t noticed, there are homeless street people in other states as well. The ones in California, in many cases migrated from, perhaps, your state. And yes gas is $4 per gallon at the moment but our super freeways are actually free and among the best in the world and you can breathe fresh air here which wasn’t always the case. We won’t miss you if you don’t come here.

"our super freeways are actually free and among the best in the world" You must be living in parallel world or never visited other countries. California's freeways are of awful quality.

Just gross! I live in CA, sometimes we ust take it too far..

Come on people. This is just economics. Environment is just used to get this implemented. Let’s face it, the cost is really high for the hotel. They need to stock every room with multiple bottles, soap and so on. Some people use them, some do not. It seems the case with every economical beneficial thing, just use the environment or the climate change and boem. People will support it and you can make more money

Personally, I use the body wash, shampoo and so on only in high end hotels. The soap bars I use in every hotel I stay in. Since you cannot take any large liquids with you on the plane, it is necessary for hotels to supply these items.

Noticed a comment from someone that we need to use soap bars only. Ehhh well are we going back to the stone age?

Agree with some of the prior conversation / points. The problem isn't individual toiletries, its the packaging. Most Hyatt Centric "Bee Kind" products are now in paper (including liquids like shampoo). I much prefer that move to paper which eliminates plastic altogether and maintains the individual toiletry option.

I'm a bit surprised given how much of a germaphobe you are, Lucky, that you're in favor of this.

Let's be clear: the plastic waste in the oceans comes almost entirely from under-developed countries that lack modern waste-disposal infrastructure. If the state of California actually cared, they'd raise taxes and fund proper sanitation systems in Asia and Africa. The anti-plastic virtue-signalling is delightful but pointless.

This law is all about putting an "environmental benefit" stamp on what is fundamentally a cost-cutting measure. Does anyone honestly believe that hotels will spend the extra labor costs to ensure these refillable bottles are properly filled and kept cleaned of foreign substances?

@Donna

You probably never been to SoCal.
You probably only listen to politicians propaganda about surplus but never fully aware how they made surplus and why it's not sustainable. Taxes are high for a reason, especially when tech is booming.
And what about CA fresh air, oh you mean from bunch of electric cars people have to buy to cheat on HOV lanes, it used to be motorcycles but silicon valley wealth changed everything (including state surplus).

But don't feel offended, you guys still have In & Out to die for and many beautiful national parks.

What I don’t understand about the “gross stuff going in the bottle” folks is... what makes you think this doesn’t happen with the little bottles? I almost never use the hotel’s products, and never take the mini bottles with me when I leave... do you think the hotel tosses them just because the room was occupied? Of course not! Someone could easily put gross stuff in a small bottle (albeit a smaller quantity) and leave it for the next guest.

We should all be far more worried about getting Legionnaire’s disease from poorly maintained central HVAC systems, Listeria from packaged food, and Hepatitis from cooks that don’t know they have it than catching anything from toiletries.

@Eskimo - I live in San Diego where I was born and raised.

Here we go again...

The same thing happened when California banned smoking indoors, then again in public places. Backwards SD East County folks like @Donna (I bet you live in/around El Cajon, don't ya) and other short-sighted nincompoops who should all (hopefully) be dead/dying of lung cancer had a hissy fit about California taking away precious civil liberties and raised a big fuss and called California the land of "Fruits and Nuts". And yet here we are...when was the last time you saw a smoking section in a restaurant anywhere in the US? And smoking rates are down across the board. And inarguably everyone is healthier for it.

The same thing will happen with plastic bags. And straws. And single-use plastics. And hotel amenities. So what if it's also about economics? It can be about both. GTF over it. And if you don't want to come to California as a result, good. California alone is the 5th largest economy in the world - it doesn't need your tourist dollars.

Gotta love the virtue signaling west coast lefties. Don't worry about the fact that to even get into the St. Regis in SOMA SF you have to dodge human shit and needles on the sidewalk, but definitely worry about the shampoo containers.

I like it because I, I, I...

@john cockstain

Ah, yes. “Virtue signaling”, the term bandied about by folks with neither virtues nor the intelligence to know what the term actually means.

AR, with all due respect; your comment is empty on sense but full of mean spirit.

AR, ad hominem attacks and making fun of someone's name do not generally support a strong argument after 5th grade or so.

"Are our oceans filled with plastic? Yes."

But of course, not with small shampoo bottles from high end hotels in California. 90% is plastic garbage dumped by China,10% are the plastic syringes California's homeless addicts drop on the street that get washed down the storm drains.

Trust me, the turtles aren't dying from swallowing Marriot shampoo bottles. Or straws from McDonalds either. Almost all of which ends up in land fills, where they take up very little space compared to say gallon milk bottles.

As for the delayed timeline for implementation, that's simple. Politicians typically time that for after they will no longer be in office, making it someone else's problem when it goes into effect, if in fact it ever really does. 😉

But of course when your actual intent is not environmental conditions, but instead virtue signaling, none of that matters.

So many other things they could do than this bullshit fool good law.

@Tru by Hilton already does no individual containers. I know it will be gross for some of us but hopefully it will help. Hotels should step up their recycling!

So what will happen when K cups are banned?

It appears that individually packaged soap wrapped in paper is not on this list.........and if it does come to pass I would probably be better off putting my Sisley in my bag and taking it with me anyway...........the rest of the US should get the message that California is not going to sit back on climate issues and we plan to take any and all kicking and screaming.........it's just a matter of time...........

Bingo to @jordan. If eg. plastic bags are banned why then can you pay for one. The environment is always the easy way out. Just be up front.

Easy solution - use biodegradable packages and avoid those nasty bacteria and dirt-laden filthy dispensers.

I think k-cups should be banned more than anything as those contribute to far more waste. Include single use plastic coffee trays (mostly used by Marriott), plastic cups wrapped in plastic (also heavily used by Marriott). Those single use items tends to create far more wast than shampoo bottles which last for several days.

Wow-- you sure can tell a lot about people's political beliefs with a little litmus test like no more disposable plastic toiletries. "Don't make me change anything I like regardless of the reason" sounds a lot like those guys in the dumb red hats. And, geez, what's with all the exclamation marks? Some people have been following someone's Twitter feed a little too closely. Get a (real) life.

@AR
California alone is the 5th largest economy in the world – it doesn’t need your tourist dollars.

Yep, doesn't need tourist. They got tech companies and their taxes. How did you think @Donna get the idea of budget surplus from. You gotta understand this is all political propaganda. I never heard a Texan brag about having larger economy than Canada and Texans like to brag.

And remember a lot of people go to CA for business not for vacation. Business that helps CA builds its GDP and pay taxes which give you a recent budget surplus. Now guess what when recession hits, you guys will fall much harder.
The irony here is the way people there are acting is no different than a liberal version of Trump trying to Make CA Great Again.

How about the hotels with exactly 50 rooms? Seems like they can carry on as now 😉

@bongabonga: plastic is not biodegradable. Some packaging is, but not plastic. Ever.
@bob: trump didn't preempt a state law, the authority was delegated by the EPA and he revoked the delegation.
@1987: It's not a proposal to ban plastic water bottles at SFO. It's a done deal
@brandote: Well said!
@Andy11235: You are completely wrong about this. The vast majority of plastic in oceans was dumped from ships carrying our recycling to China because our recycling is poorly sorted and contaminated. That's why it's all going in landfills now. You knew that right? We all feel good about putting our recycling on the curb and it goes to the transfer station and to the landfill because no one will take it.
@RobertHansen: The syringe crap is BS from the trump administration that has been debunked. Yes SF has a homeless problem. Yes it has lots of problems. People are trying to fix them. Doesn't mean that we shouldn't also try to save the environment.

Have their actuaries gone to sleep. Lets all imagine the huge class action coming with the problems associated with this genius idea.
A

Kinda hilarious to hear people so concerned about the environment on a website devoted to air travel.

I don't really care about the little bottles, I never received even use them. I take my own toiletries and I'm suspecting a lot of people here do too, it's just not a good political argument to admit that. But seriously with all the problems in CA this is what time and energy were spent on?

Interesting move

In general, I'm guessing that the readers of Lucky's blog are fairly well-heeled travelers and it appears that many of them really have a problem with the idea of implementing a few small changes in their behavior.

- All regulations and laws are "politically motivated" - what else would they be?

- If the regulation helps get rid of some plastic waste, then good for it. I've got a hoard of travel sized toiletries that, while convenient to have around, but whose absence will cause little real hardship.

- The regulation appears to give hotels plenty of time to come up with alternative packaging if they think it befits their brand. The hard dates give the industry some hard targets within which to come up with alternatives. Without hard dates, nothing would ever change.

- How difficult is it really to take your own toiletries along? A couple of silicon bottles that can be easily refilled at home allow you to take whatever high-end products you want/need. I promise it's not really that hard to do.

- I see the complaints about CA spending time on passing this legislation versus spending time on their "real" problems. Yes, CA has lots of problems, as does every other state I've visited, but governments can actually work on multiple things at the same time... I'm guessing that Gov. Newsome didn't really spend much of his own time working on this.

- If the regulations are really a problem for you, then I suggest simply don't go to California - problem solved!

Easily disposable plastics have been a scourge and if the slight inconvenience of having to take my own toiletries will mean a few bushels less of disposable plastic, then it's a net positive.

Yay! Great move to reduce single use plastics. Glad to see California join the goal movement towards eliminating single use plastics.

*global movement

I just completed a stay at The Dalmar hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. They call themselves a luxury hotel and use Dalmar branded toiletries, so no idea what brand they actually are. They have large bottles, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion. They are not locked and are can just be opened and contaminated easily, and also don’t offer soap which is a major minus to me. Conditioner and lotion were almost empty and shampoo pump didn’t work. I get saving the environment etc. BUT am strongly against using toiletries that can easily be tampered with.

This is INSANE! I agree with the person who said how nice it must be in California,when the have nothing better to do! Maybe this one law is an" easily overlooked inconvenience " But added to the "bag " law, the "straw"' law, first "microbead" law, it's now too much!
First,I was born and raised in California(I'm ashamed to say) My husband and are selling our home specifically to leave the state. I tend to forget to "carry bags" in the store,so I end up paying the stupid nickel a bag, then get over loaded with then,and I end up THROWING THEM AWAY! Just FYI those damn things don't come close to the "required 125uses" ! The lack of convenience of the toiletries personally force is to buy multiple travel size products,I'm not lugging around heavy full size bottles that I use at home! If I did, I would also need to buy gallon size Ziploc bags to put them in, instead of the quart size I will need for all the single use bottles!!!! This is ridiculous! Anyone remember the fits the environmentalist threw, to ban the glass soda bottles, THEY WANTED PLASTIC,,why? Because it was lighter and the trucks would use so much less fuel to transport it. Make up your feeble minds,jerks!

@Calya Out, rest assured that no one in California is going to miss you. We can continue to do everything we find convenient and continue to destroy the environment. Or we can be responsible. Personally, I think those of us who travel the most have the greatest obligation to be better stewards of our environment even if it is inconvenient.

@Louis
As Louis pointed out, many waste disposal companies, including my County's department of Solid Waste, which used to offer an area where people could put cardboard, newspapers, non crv glass and plastic, since the one local recycling center only takes crv items. But the County announced it will no longer take those items because its not "cost effective "
This type of law being imposed is a major reason most of us in Northern California (please don't insult us by thinking SF or Sac ) want to separate from Ca and become The State of Jefferson. We don't have curb side recycling, hell, we don't even have home mail delivery! Our bumper stickers read "Save Paper! Wipe Your (self) With a Spotted Owl"
Just FIY next time dividing the state is on the ballot, Vote Yes
90% of you southern bleeding hearts have no clue what half the crap you fight for really means. Come Up to the REAL NORTHERN PART OF CALIFORNIA and get educated!

Every year while traveling I collect the shampoo, conditioner, hand soap and body lotion bottles and typically donate two or three shopping bags full to the local homeless shelter. I thought the so-called Progressives in the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia were all about helping the homeless. This is a perfect example of unintended consequences.

And, I just ordered 3,000 plastic straws from Sam's Club, which should be a lifetime supply for me.