Many Companies Begin Banning Single-Use Straws (May Post)

This post is a response to many articles/news sources reporting on the companies that are banning all plastic, single-use straws.

For many years straws have been known to cause an incredible amount of environmental problems. From being broken down, or chewed by wildlife, into bits of plastic and ending up in our bodies of water or drinking water, to becoming a major problem in habitats of animals. This goes to show that plastic straws are a huge problem.

Alaska Airlines has recently announced that they will no longer be serving plastic straws on their flights. This is a great step! However, when I think of plastic straws, I think of the restaurant industry, not the airline industry. It's a great first step in the right direction. Another great step to take would be for large fast-food locations to start picking up on this issue. While, of course, there is the argument: "if you're driving you need a lid and straw." However, no one ever said they had to be plastic straws... There are a few options here: 1) Fast-food places incentivize reusable straws. Whether it's a coupon for a 5% discount off of your meal or a point system to rack up coupons, it could easily attract customers to providing their own straws. 2) Requiring customers to bring their own straws. While this is a risky move that could probably only happen with legislation, restaurants could have reusable straws for purchase and not have the need for those plastic straws.

If you aren't driving somewhere, there is really no need for a straw. Restaurants assume that you would like a straw. When I go out to eat I have to specifically request a drink with no straw. This should change. Think about the environment next time you go out to eat and choose to drink from a straw.