Plastic Bottles and Balloons Getting the Boot in Santa Barbara?

Certain single-use plastics may soon be banned in the City of Santa Barbara. Items include small plastic water bottles, Mylar balloons, plastic confetti, and other disposables that harm the environment and pile up in landfills.

The city’s Ordinance Committee voted 3-0 last week to advance proposals that prohibit the sale and distribution of these items, with some exceptions for food banks, shelters, and emergencies. It will now move on to the City Council for a vote. 

“It’s a long time overdue in my opinion,” said City Councilmember Oscar Gutierrez, who sits on the Ordinance Committee with councilmembers Kristen Sneddon and Mike Jordan. 

“Every little bit adds up,” he told the Independent. “It’s all a drop in the bucket, but we’re neck-deep in that bucket right now. It [plastic] is in our food, in our water, in our blood. We gotta start small to hopefully add up to a bigger impact.”

These changes would support the city’s shift away from single-use, disposable items to compostable and reusable alternatives, reducing litter and waste management costs, according to the proposal. 

Specifically, the city would ban plastic and Styrofoam (polystyrene) foodware and takeout containers, such as plastic-lined coffee cups; single-use plastic water bottles smaller than 8 fl. oz.; Mylar balloons and plastic confetti; and plastic carryout bags at stores.  

Mylar balloons get caught in powerlines and can cause power outages and wildfires, and confetti pollutes waterways and can harm wildlife if they ingest it. Instead, the city is encouraging residents to use less-harmful, paper-based alternatives, like paper lanterns, for celebrations — including Fiesta, which leaves confetti sprinkled all over city streets. 

Additionally, businesses will be expected to transition to compostable paper products for items such as takeout containers. The city’s proposals also include guidelines to take the plastic out of dining-in, requiring food and beverages consumed on site — “for here” — be served using reusable plates and cups, with some exemptions. 

Environmental groups support the bans. Penny Owens with Santa Barbara Channelkeeper noted that much disposable foodware and other single-use plastic items — even those labeled as biodegradable — do not break down in the marine environment. When Channelkeeper takes research boats into the channel, one of the most common items they find are Mylar balloons, she said.

“I’ve even found them with barnacles growing on the bottom — that’s how long they had persisted in the environment,” Owens recounted.  

Other speakers brought up potential repercussions of the proposed changes.

Tim James with the California Grocers Association said the new proposals seem to target restaurants, but they would have unintended consequences for grocery stores. 

“We fully expect we would have to discontinue the sales of hundreds of products where we would not have compliant packaging,” he said. That includes baked goods, and, most notably, rotisserie chickens, he added. He asked that the proposals’ language be changed to avoid impacts on grocers.

Duncan McFetridge, representing the Coalition for Responsible Celebration, stood up for the sale of balloons. Grocers and small businesses would stop selling foil and latex balloons, he said. Santa Barbara small businesses, he added, “will be disproportionately affected by the balloon provisions of this ordinance.” 

“For those entrepreneurs, balloon decor isn’t a side business; it is a core part of how they support their households,” McFetridge continued. “A local sales ban would directly and immediately affect their ability to live where they work and pay taxes.”

Implementation of the new proposals would include prioritizing bilingual education and providing resources to businesses to aid in the transition away from single-use plastic, according to the city. The city recently hired a new code enforcement officer and recycling educator to assist in the transition.  

“Many businesses just need to adjust a few items to be compliant with the proposed updates,” said Daniela Rosales with the city’s Sustainability and Resilience Department.

Enforcement may still be difficult, especially during citywide, long-running events such as Fiesta. 

“I’d hate to see city staff out there citing people for using banned materials, but it may have to come to that, at least for the first year to get the word out,” Councilmember Gutierrez told the Independent. “It’s just a bigger issue of having to change how we live our lives to protect the environment.”

The council is expected to vote on the item in the new year.