It Sucks To Be A Plastic Straw
It's the last straw! And we couldn't be happier.
By now you should know that drinking through a single-use plastic straw really sucks for the environment.
But in Seattle, the slurp stops here when the city's ban on plastic straws goes into effect this July.
We know what you're thinking: How could such an itty bitty thing as a plastic straw have a major impact on the environment and its two- or four-legged inhabitants? Well, for starters, we dispose of billions of plastic straws each year.
“The bottom line is this: We are creating plastic pollution at an unprecedented scale, and we cannot clean or recycle it fast enough,” says Jim Wharton, director of conservation and education at the Seattle Aquarium. He goes on to say:
“The only solution is for us to reduce the flow of plastic into the ocean.”
Seattle's anti-straw initiative is the next logical step in the city's progressive campaign to reverse this nation's wasteful ways. Other cities and groups are climbing aboard.
An organization that calls itself The Lonely Whale Foundation wants to extend the campaign to another 15 major cities by next year -- a move that would in time reduce the national straw count by billions.
Sip on this:
Seattle's legislation requires more than 4,500 food service businesses to provide compostable or recyclable options.
- Americans slurp through more than 500 million single-use plastic straws every day. That's nearly 200 BILLION a year!
- In 2011, Seattle made headlines by banning plastic bags and charging a nickel for each paper bag to reduce plastic pollution and encourage grocery shoppers to bring along reusable totes.
Check out the full story on Seattle's pain-in-the-glass initiative that's helping to change the world one drink at a time.
Start Reducing Plastic Pollution Now
You don't have to wait for a law to force you to cut down on your pollution footprint. Become a more savvy shopper and say sayonara to single-use products like plastic straws. If you need a straw to enjoy your favorite beverages, we can help. COAST IS CLEAR offers a 4-pack of forever use stainless-steel straws. They're dishwasher safe, super sturdy and much cooler than plastic straws.