Ex-straw-dinary idea Brothers’ business is helping the planet
TO combat the environmental impact of plastic straws, and the frailty of their alternatives, two young brothers have come up with an innovative idea to find a compromise.
Aahan and Amal Patel, aged 14 and 18, set up their business ‘The Last Straw Cheltenham’ in 2018, and now supply plant-based straws to individuals and businesses in the town and beyond.
They came up with the idea while on a family holiday in Greece.
“We were on holiday in Kefalonia, sat by the waterfront in a town called Argostoli, which is famous for its turtles and it was quite a windy day.” said Aahan.
“We saw a plastic cup with a plastic straw roll out of an overflowing bin towards the sea where all the turtles were swimming, and feelings of anger and frustration grew inside us because it can choke all the marine life.”
Upon returning back to the UK with these feelings, and an initial sum of money from their parents, who gave the idea to make a change, the boys set out to do good.
Amal spent the following few months researching every thing they needed for their campaign, and after a lot of time and dedication, they ‘hit the ground running.’
The young businessmen supply bamboo and wheat straws - which have quite a few advantages against paper straws.
“First of all, paper straws go quite soggy, you can’t really drink out of them.” said Aahan.
“[Paper straws are] essentially cutting down trees which contributes to deforestation. Bamboo straws are extremely fast-growing - bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on earth - they’re sustainable and they’re very oxygen-enriching.
“Wheat straws are natural and they’re actually part of the stem of the wheat which would usually be thrown away so there’s no waste.”
“We source them from an ethical supplier in China.” Amal added.
“We’ve had a lot of people come up to us and go ‘Surely the pandas eat the bamboo?’ - it’s actually a different type of bamboo to the one pandas eat so it’s very ethical and very sustainable.”
Managing a business is stressful at any age, in any situation, but Aahan and Amal have remarkably juggled The Last Straw with school.
While Aahan is in Year 9, Amal was meant to be sitting his A-level exams this summer.
“Before COVID was happening, you’d have orders coming in, you’d have to process the invoices, do the accounting, process the orders, deliver them, keep up to date on social media.” Amal said, who is hoping to study economics at the University of Warwick.
“I would definitely like the environment and sustainability to be at the forefront of what I do potentially in the future.
“As well as the business, we also have this campaign going on the side, so I’ve been into local primary schools and given presentations to children, educating them on the issue of plastic pollution.
“I really think if you want to bring about change in the future, it’s them you want to target. They’re the ones who are going to have the ability to make the change themselves.”
In terms of the business side of The Last Straw, Aahan and Amal supply their straws to shops and bars, including Door4 Montpellier and Kibou Sushi, as well as businesses further afield - such as Kanishka, a fine dining Indian restaurant in Mayfair.
The pair have also had support from Cheltenham’s MP Alex Chalk who was keen to meet them when they started out.
“We enjoy doing it and obviously each business comes with hard parts, like the accounting and the finance, but I quite enjoy that side of it.” Amal said.
“Aahan quite enjoys processing and packing the orders, and I deliver them because I can drive now.
“So there’s different elements of the business we all like.”
“Our parents have been extremely supportive of whatever we’ve done throughout this campaign and business, and our friends have also been very supportive because we’re all environmentally conscious.” Aahan added.
For more information visit thelaststrawcheltenham.co.uk/