Plastic is the final straw for this duo
IN KEEPING with social responsibility and environmental awareness, CraftFest on March 21 sees the launch of a range of affordable and eco-friendly reusable straws.
Guy Acutt and Shannon Elion, two of the partners at Custom Craft Glass, showed the Independent on Saturday their glass, bamboo and stainless steel straws this week.
The couple are passionate about cutting out single-use plastics, believing their products have the potential to have a global impact.
“There is a global need for people to shift over,” says Acutt.
With the motto “reduce, reuse, recycle”, all the straws are certified to US Food and Drug Administration standards. The glass straws are made from borosilicate glass, to add strength and reduce thermal stress, and they are double-walled.
There is also a bent glass straw, and Acutt hopes to soon have a shorter wine straw, which is increasingly popular in the US after Rihanna’s famed Instagram selfie.
The couple insist they are not selling a boutique product, because they want it available to the whole country. The straws are already in some Engen stores and are going into Spar soon.
The straws retail at R22 for glass, R20 for bamboo, and a kit with a stainless steel cleaner in a hemp case retails at R38.
“We don’t want to make our straws so expensive that only 1% can afford to buy them. They’re not the ones creating the problem, anyway. It’s the mass market where one needs to change people’s minds,” he says.
Acutt grew up on the Bluff and studied in China.
He’s worked in the beverage industry in Ghana and Nigeria, developing bottles for South West Distillers.
The keen jet-skier also speaks Mandarin and has been involved in the creation of handcrafted craft gin bottles.
Elion grew up on the South Coast before the family moved to Durban. Currently studying, she already has a BA health sciences degree and has been a Lifeline counsellor.
The couple live on a farm at Alverstone, where they have “12 horses and nine dogs”.
“It’s something of a livery yard,” says Elion, who is an accomplished rider and enthusiastic amateur showjumper.
Some of the proceeds from the sales will go to Hope’s Anchor, an orphanage and children’s shelter in the Upper Highway, African Wild Vet, whose members assist SANParks where necessary, and the Sisonke Surf School, which “takes kids off the street and teaches them to surf”.
“Where most businesses take, we aim to give back,” says Acutt. “All these NGOs are vetted. The money’s not going into someone’s pocket.”