Plastic straws are one of the top 10 items found during beach cleanups with Americans using 500 million drinking straws every day - enough to wrap around the world twice or fill 125 school buses.
Straws are just one example of single-use plastic items that are present in the food and beverage industry. Single-use plastic is used for a short period of time and then discarded to live indefinitely in our ecosystem. Many end up floating in our oceans, clogging up sewer systems and on our beaches; endangering wildlife that mistake them for food.
Be At One is the latest bar chain to join the straw-free revolution. Following in the footsteps of the likes of Wetherspoons, Liberation Group, Oakman Inns, the Alchemist, Laine Pub Company and All Bar One.Be At One's chief operating officer Andrew Stones said “As a business, we are committed to reducing our impact on the environment and becoming a more environmentally sustainable operation. Plastic has a devastating environmental impact and is particularly harmful to our oceans and marine life. As such, we are pleased to be able to switch away from plastic straws.”
Moving away from plastic straws has an impact that should not be underestimated. The Laine Pub Company estimate that by no longer offering straws across their 55 sites they will be saving 2 million straws from landfill each year. Consumers needn’t worry about a straw-free drinking experience with companies offering biodegradable paper straws or reusable metal straw alternatives.
Brighton MP Caroline Lucas applauded Laines for their involvement in the #StrawsSuck campaign and praised them for raising awareness about the damaging environmental impact that straws can have, saying; “I’m delighted that the Laine Pub Company has agreed to use alternatives to plastic. I hope that others follow their lead.”Similarly Wetherspoons are in the process of phasing out straws across their 900 UK and Ireland pubs, instead opting to offer only biodegradable paper straws from January 2018. Wetherspoon chief executive John Hutson said, “These changes are part of an overall commitment from the company to reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste produced”.As consumers begin making more conscious choices about the food and drink they consume, and the way in which they are doing so, the establishments at the forefront of the hospitality industry are doing their utmost to offer them an evolving experience in-line with their values.