Star’s post sparks paper straw kerfuffle

The basketballer’s plea was met with a groundswell of support from Twitter users after complaining about paper straws “disintegrating”. It comes just months after fierce debate raged surrounding a decision from Australian states for takeaway restaurants and supermarkets to be largely stripped of single-use plastic items. Drmic was clearly taken aback at seeing the impassioned responses his comment received. “I don’t want to get cancelled by the environmentalists but holy s*** can we please have plastic straws back,” he wrote on Twitter. “Or at least something that doesn’t disintegrate after 4 seconds. My brain hurts every time I have to use a paper straw.”He exchanged several messages with Twitter users criticising his comment. “The best part about my last tweet going semi viral is now the basement dwelling gremlins are starting to find it and reply,” The Adelaide 36ers player wrote. As of November, businesses in NSW are banned from supplying single-use plastic cutlery, stirrers, straws, plates and bowls - and anyone caught supplying them could be fined up to $11,000.Retail and hospitality businesses must abide by the new bans, including restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels.There are some exceptions to the new bans, including providing plastic straws upon request to people with a disability or medical need.Single-use plastic bowls designed or intended to have a spill-proof lid and serving utensils or serving ware, such as tongs and platters, are also exempt.The exemptions also extend to pre-packaged items that are integrated into the packaging of a food or beverage product through a machine automated process, such as straws attached to a juice box.Minister for Environment James Griffin said at the time the NSW plastic bans were just the “beginning of our massive shift away from single-use plastic.”He said the bans will prevent 2.7 billion items of plastic litter from entering the environment over the next 20 years.In Victoria, Drinking straws, cutlery, plates, drink stirrers, cotton buds and polystyrene food and drink containers will all be banned from February. Queensland has already banned a number of single-use plastic items including straws, stirrers, plates and bowls, cutlery and polystyrene takeaway food and beverage containers.More bans will come into place in September 2023. Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au