York High School students Chloe Whitbread, Maxine Adelson, and Aidan Ring set out to reduce plastic waste in York in the spring of 2023. The ordinance was voted to be sent to a town committee in August, and the group applied for spots on the committee. With the aid of local activist Victoria Simons the committee including Chloe, Maxine, Aidan, and restaurant owners Jason Miller, Kaitlyn Ramsey, and Veronica Roth, as well as Michelle Marean successfully revised the ordinance and submitted it to the select board for approval to be on the May ballot. In late February the select board voted unanimously to put the ordinance on York’s general referendum ballot on May 18th. The ordinance (number 66) effectively bans single-use plastic straws, stir sticks and utensils. 

Historically York has been a leader in environmental justice regarding single-use plastic waste, banning single-use carry-out bags in 2015 and polystyrene food containers in 2019. If voted in, the ordinance would be the first of its kind to ban single-use straws and utensils in Maine. “The issue of plastic pollution has been a vivid concern in my life,” says committee member Chloe Whitbread, to her and the other committee members plastic pollution is too big an issue to neglect. Plastic waste can take hundreds of years to decompose and even then it is emitting harmful chemicals into the environment that pose extreme health defects for humans. “Banning single-use plastic straws, utensils, and stir sticks is just one small step in addressing a massive problem,” says Aidan Ring. The student group is enthusiastic about the ordinance’s outcome in May.