Bioplastic Greenwashing

Check the website of the company that makes the bioplastic products you use, or are served in restaurants, and you will read things like "certified compostable in commercial compost facilities" - others will state that their products are "disposable", but made from 100% renewable plants. 
Talk to the commercial compost facilities here in Marin, and they'll tell you that they can't accept ANY compostable plastics - straws, cups, containers, or compostable cutlery. NONE OF IT
Two reasons: 
1. It takes too long to decompose (180 days, compared to the average 45 it takes to turn our yard/food waste into compost)
2. Compost Facilities in Marin produce certified organic soil amendment - Add bioplastics and it can't be certified organic.
Compostable/Bioplastics are accepted in San Francisco and the East Bay - their end product (compost) is NOT certified organic and cannot be used on food crops - instead it is used for things like commercial landscaping.
Check with your own sanitation department, but here in Marin, all of those bioplastics go to landfill - or end up as litter (I pick them up all the time) - When these bioplastics end up in the waterways/ocean, they act like petroleum based plastics, contributing to the global/ocean plastic pollution crisis.
If you didn't BYO mug, cup, straw, cutlery, bag... please opt for paper - When I haven't had my own cup, I've gotten my iced drinks/smoothies/coffees in paper cups, for 20+ years - and I've been told countless times by countless well meaners that the cup will "fall apart" - I've even been told "sorry, we HAVE to serve iced drinks in plastic" - Nope. Not true - in all my years I have yet to have one of my iced drinks in a paper cup fall apart.
Please opt for paper - it IS compostable
Tell your server "No Straw"
Keep your eyes peeled for paper straws - I'm on a mission to replace the bioplastic ones with USA made Aardvark Paper Straws!
*note - paper cups/containers/straws are often lined with a plant based starch or plastic (depending on the brand) because the lining is so thin, they are still considered compostable AND compost made containing these items can still be certified organic.