Clubs must ban plastic straws
With the football season starting I have called on clubs throughout Scotland to replace plastic straws with biodegradable straw alternatives.
MSP Kate Forbes‘ Final Straw campaign for a straw-free country received substantial backing from the Scottish Parliament, Scotrail Alliance, CalMac, several local authorities and public bodies, and this year’s golf Open Championship in Carnoustie followed suit.
The Scottish Government is taking the lead in seeking to tackle the scourge of plastics – Scotland is the first part of the UK to commit to introducing a deposit return scheme and to ban the sale and manufacture of plastic-stemmed cotton buds.
The SNP Government has also already appointed a specialist advisor to ensure the needs of disabled people are taken into account when removing plastic straws.
I’m calling on all football clubs to take the opportunity at the start of this season to ditch plastic straws in favour of biodegradable alternatives.
Of course, we need to ensure that disabled people who need to use plastic straws still have access to them.
However, other than being used by disabled people who cannot use paper straws, plastic is generally unnecessary, they aren’t recyclable and don’t biodegrade, which means they never leave the ecosystem, causing untold harm to the environment.
This is just the start – ultimately, football stadiums should be setting an example to their fans and working towards cracking down on all single use plastics to reduce the amount of waste we produce as a country.