Why Are Restaurants Getting Rid of Plastic Straws?

You might have noticed that something is missing from some of your favorite restaurants: plastic straws. Many restaurants have decided to cut back on or completely eliminate their use of plastic straws in an effort to be more environmentally friendly. At some restaurants, plastic straws are only provided upon request while at other restaurants plastic straws have been replaced by biodegradable paper ones. A few restaurants have gotten rid of straws entirely.

Straws may seem like a strange target for environmentalists. After all, they contain considerably less plastic than plastic cups which have not received nearly as much focus. One explanation is that getting rid of plastic straws is a relatively easy step toward decreasing a restaurant’s environmental footprint. Some activists hope that eliminating plastic straws will be just one step toward the establishment of more environmentally friendly restaurants.

Just as many cities recently banned retailers from distributing plastic bags in an effort to curb the use of plastics, the push to rid restaurants of plastic straws has been taken up by some local governments. In several cities throughout the country, they have been banned. For the most part, however, efforts to decrease the use of plastic straws have been led by calls for voluntary action. Activists hope that restaurant owners will choose to stop using plastic straws once they understand the harm they can do the environment and realize that there are viable alternatives.

It has been estimated that 500 million plastic straws from around the world end up in the ocean every day. This poses a serious threat to wildlife because plastic is not biodegradable. This means that it will sit in the ocean forever. In addition to the harm plastic can do in the ocean, it poses a threat on land as well. This is because it does not naturally degrade the way food, paper, and most other items that end up in landfills do. As a result, plastic that is discarded will eventually fill up our landfills.

If you’re a restaurant owner who’s interested in going plastic straw-free, you can learn more here: https://thelastplasticstraw.org/