“If you want to prosper like other countries, look at what they are doing. How do they act?”

Today, I will take a look at the waste management laws of California, which is the state with the highest economic value and largest population in the USA. What are they doing?

In 2015, California passed a law prohibiting all types of grocery stores and retail stores from providing free plastic or paper bags to customers. Stores were forced to sell bags at a price of 10 cents each, which encouraged the public to buy and use their own reusable bags instead.

In 2019, California passed a law that prohibited restaurants from providing plastic straws to a customer without the customer’s request. Read carefully. This means that they still use plastic straws, but the customer is required to first make a request for one before the restaurant can give it to them. However, most restaurants in Thailand always put plastic straws into a customer’s glass immediately.

In addition, California also passed a law banning stores in all state-owned areas from supplying to customers food and drink containers that are not biodegradable or recyclable. Many of these environmental laws are waiting to be passed by the House of Representatives.

Looking back to our home, we have requested cooperation from 75 major department stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores nationwide to unite in stopping the distribution of single-use plastic bags next year. A survey of 2,032 people from throughout the country found that 89.86 percent agreed with the policy and 91.58 percent had already altered their bag usage. Therefore, the 10% who keep complaining that they can't live without plastic bags have to accept it and start carrying their own cloth bags. The world is no longer waiting.

#TopVarawut #EverydaySayNoToPlasticBags