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Starbucks to Eliminate Plastic Straws

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Melody Bot, Jul 9, 2018.

  1. Melody Bot

    Your friendly little forum bot. Staff Member

    This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply.

    Starbucks have announced they will be eliminating plastic straws globally by 2020:


    Today, Starbucks Coffee Company announced it will eliminate single-use plastic straws from its more than 28,000 company operated and licensed stores by making a strawless lid or alternative-material straw options available, around the world. Starbucks, the largest food and beverage retailer to make such a global commitment, anticipates the move will eliminate more than one billion plastic straws per year from Starbucks stores.

     
  2. Zip It Chris

    Be kind; everyone is on their own journey.

    Good for them, hopefully others will follow. All it takes is a little lid redesign, and can do a lot for the environment.
     
    Vase Full Of Rocks and FTank like this.
  3. soundclash

    Regular

    I saw this infographic on Twitter over the weekend and, while I support using less plastic, really hope those that decide to ban it keep things like this in mind and still have options for disabled patrons.
     

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    Wharf Rat, Essie and St. Nate like this.
  4. jorbjorb

    7 rings

    Awesome.
     
  5. Tata Toothy

    Regular

    I know a lot of my local establishments have canned plastic straws a year ago. It’s huge seeing a major company making a switch, even if I hate Starbucks.
     
  6. Bayside 182

    Wolverine Supporter

    Hard rock cafe has been using paper straws for 30 years I believe so not sure why that trend never took off.
     
  7. Jonathan

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Verified

    My friend got plastic straws banned in her city here in CA. Pretty awesome, she's super passionate about that.
     
  8. KyleK

    Let's get these people moving faster! Supporter

    When can we expect Trump to step in to prop up the straw industry?

    ...Sorry, got wound up today reading that NYT article about the US blackmailing developing countries within the world health organization to try and protect the baby formula industry.
     
    Raku likes this.
  9. sawhney[rusted]2

    I'll write you into all of my songs Supporter

    add it to the pile. stay vigilant.
     
  10. My brother's already obsessed with Starbucks' sippy cup lids.
     
    Kingjohn_654 likes this.
  11. currytheword

    Trusted

    While I understand the idea put forth behind this, disabled people are not in danger of dying if they don't have Starbucks. And I would imagine that for those who are disabled, their caretaker (be it family or someone else) will be aware of their needs and have the appropriate items on hand when necessary, like when taking them on a trip to a cafe or elsewhere.
     
  12. soundclash

    Regular

    Well, no, not Starbucks specifically. But if it becomes a larger trend then it could have implications. That’s why I said I hope those that do move to ban the plastic straws still have options for those who may need them.
     
    Wharf Rat and St. Nate like this.
  13. DearCory

    Regular

    They said on facebook that they fully understand some people need straws and are looking at their different options. They haven't said what the straws will be made of (I'd assume they're still seeing what option would be cost effective) but my guess is paper
     
    Essie, currytheword and soundclash like this.
  14. soundclash

    Regular

    That’s awesome! Hopefully every company/etc. is as considerate.
     
  15. Eclipse

    Regular

    As someone who is a partial caretaker/family member of someone who is disabled (and needs a straw due to inability to use one hand/shaking hands) it’s more just the fact that it’s another thing on the growing list of ways we have to alter our life and routine just to do things that an able bodied person wouldn’t have to think twice about. Like someone else said, it’s not just Starbucks, but even if it theoretically was it sucks to be like “well if you’re disabled too bad go somewhere else.” Especially considering personal use/consumption really is not a huge or leading issue involving environment problems, it truly is about 30 companies that dominate marketing and production who cause or effect that majority of wastecpollution as well as other pollution. Which is not to say we still shouldn’t try to be personal responsible as consumers but in general the “stop being selfish” weird guilt tripping I see in regards to this issue is strange because of that. If I wanna go somewhere with my sibling we gotta make sure we can physically get in, it’s got a wide entrance to the bathroom, we can easily navigate around tables, and the parking lot is both taken care of and has proper handicap spots. And this is living in New York City, which is more liberal and has a large population. Even places that are labeled as accessible tend to half ass it. So yeah, it be nice not to have to worry about straws.
     
  16. Ryan

    Might be Spider-Man...

    Maybe they'll staff stores properly and not penny pinch like they currently are by then.
     
    Raku and pauljgreco like this.
  17. soundclash

    Regular

    The guilt-tripping is another thing, too. I saw that one tweet that got really popular that said something like “my waiter asked if we wanted straws or if I wanted to save the turtles.” It probably wasn’t true, but I’d hate for people who actually need straws to feel bad asking for them or getting snarky remarks like that.
     
    Saephon, Raku and Eclipse like this.
  18. Eclipse

    Regular

    I saw that and it felt weird and people were like “we should do the same with meat!” Like personal awareness and promoting that is good but let’s not overstep boundaries
     
    mercury, Wharf Rat and Raku like this.
  19. zachmacD

    Trusted

    I'm glad they are looking into a plastic alternative. I went to two shows recently and was provided paper straws both time. Both times, the paper straw fell apart half way through my drink and it was either just gulp down my soda or leave the show to go get another one. Obviously, I'd rather protect the environment than use a plastic straw but there needs to be a better alternative than paper. Especially since i don't think cutting down trees for straws is much better
     
    Eclipse likes this.
  20. soundclash

    Regular

    Agreed! There are legitimate reasons some people can’t (or won’t) change their lifestyles, so to speak, and I wish more people understood that. Not everything is because they hate the environment and want all the turtles to die.
     
    Raku likes this.
  21. twisterman2006

    Trusted Supporter

    You'd hope so but here I am still understaffed every day :/

    Really cool they're doing this though. I do love those sippy cup lids when I forget my cup at home.
     
    Raku likes this.
  22. Raku

    Regular

    I've been actually looking into alternatives just in case there is actually a ban on plastic (which will effects straws) sometime in the future.

    Two options are glass straws, or metal straws. Now, you can get different types of straws depending on the material, but this person had an interesting set of metal straws that they ordered online from Amazon.



    That being said though, I tried wax/paper straws in the past, and they were just gross. If plastic straws (or tubing) go away then these two could hopefully suffice (unless there are other materials (other than metal/glass) that I'm missing?)... Otherwise, we could also try wooden straws (lol) but they probably wouldn't feel that good to use either.
     
    zachmacD likes this.
  23. Kiana

    Goddamn, man child Prestigious

    I've tried to cut down on straws. Drinking straight from the cup often hurts my teeth so I'm looking into bamboo and metal alternatives on Amazon. Ngl I didnt even think about the waste from plastic straws until Adrian Grenier started ranting about them lol
     
  24. personalmaps

    citrus & cinnamon Prestigious

    I think this kind of movement would benefit from an opt-out rather than an full-on ban. As a non disabled person, I can easily say "No thank you, I don't want a straw." And I think that as abled people, it's our responsibility to step up to the plate and take on the burden of reducing personal waste (as futile as that is in the grand scheme of things) instead of making life more difficult and inconvenient for disabled people just trying to enjoy a damn Frappuccino.
     
  25. Mr. Serotonin

    I'm still staring down the sun Prestigious

    They should redesign those plastic stopper things as well.
     
    pauljgreco likes this.