The move to eliminate straws -- which invariably end up in our waterways, choking wildlife and mixing with our food supply -- is happening more quickly than you might realize. In Taiwan, plastic straws will be gone by 2020. The island’s EPA rolled out an aggressive new plan to eradicate all plastic waste. The first step: straws. The plan is to ban them from most fast food establishments by 2019, before eliminating them completely the following year. The EU has pushed its members to eliminate disposable plastic products (including straws) by 2030. California is contemplating a statewide measure, and plastic straws are now outlawed in parts of Florida.