Four die in car smash
Four young men died and a teenage g irl was lef t critically ill in a collision involving a car and a taxi in the early hours of yesterday.
The men, aged 18, 21 and two of 19, died at the scene in Horsforth, near Leeds.
Their Seat Leon “was travelling at speed” when it crashed at about 2.40am, police said.
Two girls, aged 16 and 17, were taken to hospital. The 16-year-old was critically ill. The Uber taxi driver was also seriously hurt.
Pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes joined a grassroots environmental revolution following the launch of our Last Straw campaign in January.
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham has pledged to ban plastic straws in Scotland by the end of next year.
Multinational and national chains, sports venues, music festivals and public bodies have moved to paper straws or other alternatives.
Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, who has campaigned extensively on the issue, said: “These figures show that a lot of progress has been made on moves to tackle plastic straws. Little did I think when it was first launched there would be such tremendous progress on the campaign.
“It’s testament to the hard work of the Sunday Mail and all the campaign supporters.”
Andrew Dick, of Zero Waste Scotland, said:: “It’s great that the Sunday Mail is getting behind the movement to reduce our reliance on single- use plastic straws.”
A move by pub chain JD Wetherspoon, who have 70 pubs in Scotland, is estimated to have preventedpr the useus of 2.5million plastpl ic st raws northnor of the Border. ChangesC made by other major chainscha such as CostaCos Coffee, Cafe Nero,Ner Starbucks, Pret a Manger and Wagamama Wag have resulted resul in a similar amount amou withdrawn. The Th giants have been joinedj by dozens of smsmall to mediumsized firms in moves estimated to have eradicated a further 2.5million plastic straws. The total passes 10million when public bodies such as the Scott ish Government and Holyrood, councils and major festivals and events are added. Nightclub boss Donald MacLeod’s group are estimated to have saved 200,000 since switching to paper alternatives six months ago.
Donald, whose group includes The Garage and Cathouse, said: “The Sunday Mail’s campaign is making a real difference.”
Graham Suttle, MD of Kained Holdings, who operate nine pubs and restaurants, said: “We estimate we’ve saved in the region of 200,000 plastic straws.
“The Sunday Mail campaign pushed us in the right direction.”
Restaurateur Cara Nikolic estimates her businesses in Helensburgh, Argyll, have saved 70,000 plastic straws since the start of the year.
She said: “Stopping plastic straws was a no-brainer.”