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After successfully banning plastic bags, offic
attention to something we are all guilty of using for only a few minutes and
disposing of without a second thought - plastic straws. [...] Too small to recycle, they
choke sea creatures [...] and eventually disintegrate into tiny microbeads, which
enter our food chain through fish. This means that every single straw ever produced
in the world still exists in some form today. [...]
In February 2018, Queen Elizabeth II eliminated plastic straws from all royal estates
including cafes and gift shops. Her royal decree also pledged to reduce the usage of
single-use plastics such as cups, plates, and utensils at royal functions. UK airports
followed shortly after, and, in mid-April, British Prime Minister Theresa May
announced a ban on all single-use plastics [...].
Vancouver became the first major Canadian city to impose a straw ban in restaurants
starting fall of 2019. [...]
Marriott, the world's largest hotel company, [...] also plans to replace single-use
15 shampoo, soap, and conditioner bottles [...] with wall-mounted refillable dispensers.
[...]
As [...] founder of StrawFree.org, succinctly puts it, "Giving up plastic straws is a
small step and an easy thing for people to get started on. From there, we can move
on to larger projects."