California is the first state to ban full-service restaurants from automatically giving out single-use plastic straws. Governor Jerry Brown signed a law that says starting next year, customers who want straws will have to ask for them.
Restaurants that violate the law will receive two warnings before being fined up to $300 per year. The biggest source of plastic straw pollution -- fast food restaurants -- are exempted from the ban, as are any eateries that fill takeout orders.
The law aims to reduce the large amount of plastic dumped in oceans, thereby reducing ocean pollution.
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