Patricia R. Doxsey reports for the Daily Freeman that giving up plastic drinking straws will be back in front of Ulster County legislators this month. A proposal would make plastic straws on-demand-only in restaurants and fast-food establishments, but still allow paper straws. On May 9, the county Legislature's Energy and Environment Committee sent the "Skip the Straw Law" to the full legislature. Local restaurants would post signs telling customers that single-use plastic straws are available upon request. "This is no means to an end, but it is a step forward," said Legislature Majority Leader Jonathan Heppner, a Democrat from Woodstock, who also supports banning plastic forks and knives. Americans use between 63 billion and 142 billion per year plastic straws per year, according to The New York Times, and the Plastic Pollution Coalition predicts that by 2050 the world's oceans will contain more plastic than fish, by weight. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.