THE STRAW’S LAST HURRAH
Opinions turning against plastic
A growing crowd of clubs, bars and restaurants in and around Vancouver have reached their last straw.
The watering holes and eateries, in locations that stretch from the ’burbs to downtown’s Granville Strip, are ditching disposable plastic straws amid a broader push by policy-makers and environmental groups to cut down on the reliance of single-use plastics. Some, like the Commodore Ballroom, have barred them entirely, while others like White Spot have made them available by request only.
Warren Erhart, president of White Spot and Triple O’s, said he supported the movement to cut straws.
“I think that clearly it’s the right thing to do from the point of the environment,” Erhart said, adding that he’s now working with suppliers to test solid-paper straws that would work for drinks like milkshakes. A strawless lid could be next.
“A lot of people are telling us they can do without that straw, thank you very much,” Erhart said, adding that elementary-aged youngsters are among those customers telling servers their Pirate Paks don’t need them.
Erhart said the company has already “knocked about three to four million straws out of the system.” For context, White Spot and Triple O’s use about 13 million straws per year, he said.
Martin Haulena, a veterinarian at the Vancouver Aquarium, offered kudos to restaurateurs that have moved away from plastic straws, and to people saying no to them.
“All of these things are such positive steps. It’s just so awesome at how quickly folks are progressing. I remember being a young, active university person jumping up and down and all mad about this, that and the other thing in the environment, but now everybody is,” Haulena said. “Everybody really, really cares and are making efforts in their own personal lives, which is probably where it matters most. But when businesses take it upon themselves, that’s so great too.”
The problem with plastics is animals can mistake them for food and ingest them, Haulena said, adding that the aquarium hasn’t used plastic straws “for eons.”
He cited several recent examples of animals harmed or killed by plastics, including a sea turtle with a straw stuck deep in its nostril and albatross chicks that have died from diets packed with plastic garbage. While it’s a less-visible issue, degraded microplastics are particularly concerning because they jam up the feeding mechanisms of planktonic organisms.
“That affects everyone by decreasing the food source for animals up the food chain, (and by passing ) those plastics up the food chain, where they can cause more chronic problems associated with toxicity,” Haulena said.
The City of Vancouver recently proposed a single-use-item reduction strategy that would restrict food vendors from automatically providing customers with straws. It would also introduce reduction plans for disposable cups and plastic bags, among other things. The city is accepting feedback on the strategy until April 13.
Safe & Sound Entertainment’s Bar None and Republic are among the Vancouver clubs that have gone strawless, while its Opus Bar, La Pentola and Hello Goodbye are now straw-optional.
“Disposable straws are more often than not made from plastic, which never breaks down and on average used for only 10 minutes at a time,” Akio Tyler, one of the owners of the company, said in a written statement. “Starting a strawless initiative seems pretty simple, and it is, but actions like these really have a huge effect on our environment.
“Creating a dialogue with your local barista or barman around the problem of single-use straws is the first step towards initiating a global change and keeping plastic out of our oceans and marine life.”