In trendy Malibu, a plastic straw in your cocktail could cost $500

On a beach in the coastal California city of Malibu, four young tourists from Argentina sit in a circle, unwrapping theirpicnic fast-food burgers and an assortment of fountain drinkswhile they discuss the possible permutations of Argentina's route to World Cup glory.

They're entirely unaware that they're sipping througha banned substance.

"No!" saidBruno Bico,looking down at his plastic straw. "I meanit's so common to use them."

Malibu's ban on plastic straws and other single-use itemsofficially went into effect on June 1,among the first andmost stringent in the U.S. to date.

Restaurants are now being spot-checked, according to city officials, and compliance with the new ordinance will be part of regular inspections. Cited restaurants will first be given a warning, then progressively fined $100, $200, and $500 for any further infractions.

"As a world, we're starting to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels," said Malibu Mayor pro tem Jefferson Wagner."The next best thing we can do for our environment is wean ourselves off of plastics."

Global push underway

Along almost any of California's beaches, discarded plastic straws are asubiquitous as seaweed.

A 2014 study published in the journalPLOSOne estimated that the world's oceans are polluted with five trillion plastic pieces weighing more than 240,000 tonnes. And seven per cent of that plasticis made up by straws and stir sticks, according to anotheranalysisbyseveral environmental groups.

That's what spurred concerned residents, like Sheila MichailMorovati,to action.

"Every time I'd go to the beach, I'd notice tons of plastic," she said."And among that plastic, there was almost always 50 per cent straws."

As Morovatistrolls down the beach, not far from the iconic Malibu pier,several used straws bob on the surf nearby, like the masts of toy sailboats.

"For that tiny little bit of time you get to use it, you're ending up throwing it away and poisoning the oceans forever," she said. "They end up in our waterways, they end up in sea life, and they end up back in us."

Morovati started lobbying Malibulawmakers to ban plastic straws in 2017. The movement grew. Politicians listened. And in early2018, the city banned not just straws, but most single-use plastic items, like stirrers, cutlery and plates.

It's a move similar to a recent proposal by the European Commission that would limitthe 10 most common single-use plastics, which the Commission says make up70 per centof European beach litter.

Over the past year, other U.S. cities, includingMiami Beach andSeattle, have passed bans, while still others, like New York City, have legislation pending.

Severalnational companiesaren't waiting for municipal regulation.

On Thursday, IKEA announced it will phase out single-use plastic in its stores and restaurantsby 2020. Food service company Bon Apptitsays it willbanplasticstraws in all 1,000 of its cafes in 33 states by 2020.And Alaska Airlines is also moving to ban them.

The associations representing Californian and Canadian plastic manufacturers toldCBCNews they oppose these bans, but declined an interview.

Eco-friendly not as economical

With its ban less than a week old,Malibu says no fines have yet been issued.But in a city where many grab takeout onthe way to the beach, some business ownersare balking at the cost of replacing all that plastic.

"It's going to be expensive," saidJoel Ruiz, manager of The Country Kitchen."We have to raise the prices. We don't want to do that,but we have to."

As a businessman himself, Wagner saidhe understands theconcern.But the mayor insists the price of eco-friendly alternatives will come down.

"This is bamboo-based, this is plant-based," he said, pointingto several items mounted ona cardboard poster display, illustratingthe options. "It's pennies right now per servingjust pennies. And I think we can absorb that in the city of Malibu and hopefully educate the rest of California, and the nation, on the way to go."

Malibu's status as a trendy destinationmakes the city a powerfulenvironmental influencer, Wagner said. In 2008, Malibu became one of the first cities in the country to adopt a ban on single-use plastic bags. (The state of California followed suit in 2014.)

"With 13,000 residents, we're not polluting that much," Wagner said. "But with 15 million visitors to our city every year, we can educate the visitors and hopefully they take that information and disseminate it in their neighbourhoods."

It's an issue the four young Argentine "lawbreakers" say they will take back with themto Cordoba, where they say few worry about tossing straws into rivers.

For AugustinVillafani, somethinghe said he'd neverthought about beforeis now hard to "unthink."

"If you start thinking about it, it's actually very interesting," he said"Ifwe can avoid using a little more plastic, why not?"