The latest environmental craze is to ditch plastic straws. Companies are finally listening to consumers and are also joining the movement and are creating replacements for plastic straws in order to limit the amount of waste ending up in landfills. Most of these companies have promised the straw-free initiative to go into effect starting in 2020.
- Starbucks
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It is no secret that Starbucks is in on this movement, in fact many cite them as the first major company to announce the effort to limit use of plastic. Starbucks is ditching the iconic green straw for a sippy cup-like lid in order to completely eliminate unnecessary straw use. The sippy cup lids are now available at numerous locations around the U.S., you may just need to request this lid instead of a straw. For the drinks like Frappuccinos that virtually require a straw for consumption, Starbucks will be offering paper straws.
- Miller Park
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While this isn’t ~technically~ a company, the MIlwaukee baseball stadium announced on Earth Day that they will be eliminating the use of plastic straws. Paper straws will be available upon request but will not be out on display.
- Disney
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Disney announced that single-use plastic straws will no longer be available at their parks. They also calculated that this move will eliminate nearly 200 million plastic straws per year.
- Shake Shack
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Shake Shack also celebrated Earth Day by announcing its chain will no longer allow plastic straws in its US locations. They have moved to replace the plastic straws with compostable straws.
- American Airlines
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American Airlines is the first airline to announce the switch from plastic straws and stir sticks to biodegradable materials such as bamboo. They estimate this will eliminate 71,000 pounds of plastic use each year.
- Nestle
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Nestle announced in early 2019 that they are eliminating use of plastic straws and will also move to make biodegradable single-use water bottles to replace the current plastic ones. The company hopes to release the new water bottle and eliminate plastic straw use by 2025.
The list of companies eliminating plastic straw use is growing, and for good reason. Many are looking for biodegradable, eco-friendly options to satisfy both straw-lovers and eco-conscious consumers. There are many other ways to help reduce straw use in the meantime, so do yourself and the environment a favor and skip the straw until these alternatives are available.