Depending on your perspective, going out to eat in Malibu just got a huge environmental boost or a lot more complicated.
The Malibu City Council on Monday night banned the seaside town's nearly 70 businesses from providing single-use plastic utensils such as plastic cutlery, straws, and stirrers. Restaurants in the city have until June 1st to switch from the single-use plastic items to ones made of other materials, such as bamboo, paper or wood.
Malibu has been at the forefront of banning single use plastic items for awhile now. The city was one of the first to ban single-use plastic bags in 2008 and Styrofoam containers back in 2005.
Mayor Rick Mullen said the plastic ban is an effort to stop plastic pollution where it begins - with people - so that the trash doesn't eventually end up in Malibu's beaches and oceans.
To help inform consumers about the change, an awareness campaign by the city was also approved. Food businesses will be provided a box of paper straws bearing the "Keep it Clean Malibu" slogan.
But lest you think the fight is over, it's not. Environmentalists say they're already eyeing the next single-use item to ban - plastic lids.