Starbucks Spill Sticks Stymied

Maybe it's not the worst inconvenience of living here. But if you want to avoid getting hot coffee spilled on you in Santa Monica, you're out of luck.

Thanks to our current city council, single-use plastics used in the food and beverage industry were banned city-wide in 2018.

Even the plastic stoppers used to prevent coffee from spilling as you walk it away from Starbucks are banned. Starbucks calls them "Spill Sticks."

The company will no longer ship them to Santa Monica locations. And, since you can't drink your coffee at Starbucks any more (or anywhere else), you are doomed to walk or drive away from a Santa Monica coffee shop with a good chance of getting hot liquid spilled on your car seats, your child, or you.

It seemingly doesn't matter to our city council if such products provide safety for consumers; saving the environment is just more important.