It was almost five years ago that I first wrote about straw elimination and its importance. Then, awareness of the problems of plastic straws were brought to light by an 11-year-old named Milo Cress. He had the support of Xanterra Parks & Resorts at the time and inspired Xanterra to remove straws at many of its properties.
I revisited the issue in an article this past week. Plastic straws have been in the news a lot lately and it was time again to encourage their elimination. Each day in the United States, an average of 500 million plastic straws are used, totaling billions of straws each year, according to Eco-Cycle. That adds up to 175 billion plastic straws a year. The plastic straws aren’t easily recyclable and frequently end up in the ocean where marine animals are ingesting them.
Plastic straws, like cigarette butts, are particularly ugly along our world’s beaches. Recently, it has been beach-filled Hawaii and California where there has been much activity to eliminate plastic straws altogether or replace them with paper ones offered upon request. The Hilton Waikoloa Village recently announced that they have become the first resort on Hawaii Island to no longer offer plastic straws. In 2017, the resort used more than 800,000 straws while serving more than 1 million guests. As of January 31, 2018, the resort made the switch to FDA-approved, GMO and BPA-free, compostable paper straws across the 62-acre, 1,241-room property.
No More Plastic Straws in Malibu
The town of Malibu, Calif. has voted to “prohibit the sale, distribution and use of single-use plastic straws and cutlery within the City to protect the environment from plastic pollution.” Malibu has also previously taken steps previously to ban plastic bags, plastic sandbags and polystyrene foam. Legislation to ban plastic straws in California and Hawaii has been considered.
I am not a West Coaster, but my understanding is that a lot of folks now carry along their own reusable straws when going out. One problem with those is that they can be difficult to clean.
I spoke with Kara Woodring, a sales representative for Aardvark Straws and she made a strong case for the use of paper straws. In the last couple of months paper straw business has more than doubled. “Plastic straws are not recyclable,” Woodring told me. “They either end up in the landfill or in a body of water. They either contaminate ground water or break down into micro-plastics.”
Paper Straw Cost Not a Real Issue
For hoteliers and restaurateurs, cost is always a concern when finding a greener solution. Woodring admitted that her company’s paper straws can cost 2 cents a piece compared to a penny or slightly less than a penny for plastic. That extra cost can be easily covered by offering paper straws only upon request. Woodring says 90 percent of Aardvark Straws customers have implemented a straw upon request policy. Those who have done that are seeing a 40 to 60 percent reduction in straw costs.
When asked what businesses should look for in paper straws, Woodring said, “You want them to be marine degradable and backyard compostable. They can break down with UV light and agitation.” Aardvark Straws are made from paper from trees in FSC or FSI certified forests and are made in America in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Has your property eliminated all straws or transitioned to paper straws upon request? What has your experience been so far? I would love to know about it. I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
Green Lodging News Adds Verdant, Clear Pool USA as Directory Partners
Green Lodging News welcomes Verdant Environmental Technologies as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. Verdant Environmental Technologies manufactures state of the art, plug & play energy management solutions for the hospitality sector. For over 40 years, Verdant has helped its customers save money on their energy bills by reducing HVAC runtimes when guestrooms are empty. Over that time, Verdant has amassed numerous patents on its technology that has helped it maximize energy savings without compromising guest comfort. Verdant is an approved vendor of all major hotel chains and was most recently named a preferred energy management thermostat by the InterContinental Hotels Group. To learn more, call (888) 440-0991, e-mail sales@verdant.co, or visit their website.
Clear Pool USA offers two choices to manage pool algae problems. The blue cylinder kills algae and reduces scaling. The other is an automatic water purifier that kills algae, reduces scaling and kills bacteria and pathogens including E.coli, pseudomonas, legionella pneumophila (Legionnaires Disease), staphylococcus, steptococcus, salmonella and others, some of which have been proven to be resilient to high levels of chlorine. Both products will help balance pH and chlorine levels that are important for swimmer comfort, (eyes and skin). The automatic purification system can also eliminate harmful chloramines, (that chlorine smell) for indoor pools and is guaranteed for life. It will also pay for itself through lower chemical costs in about a year after installation, give customers pure and pleasant pool water to swim in, while greatly reducing (if not totally eliminating), water-related illnesses caused by bacteria, fungus and pathogens. Call (618) 698-3343 or e-mail ckozicky@clearpoolusa.com for more information.
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Who is Your Sustainability Champion?
Green Lodging News is always looking to profile sustainability champions in our Personnel Profile section. If you would like to nominate someone for this section of Green Lodging News, contact me at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
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Every two weeks Green Lodging News posts a new guest column on its website. (Click here for examples.) The guest column also appears in the weekly e-newsletter. Green Lodging News is currently in need of industry experts to contribute occasional guest columns. Experts may include consultants, architects, designers, suppliers and those who own or operate green lodging establishments. Columns may be articles that take a stance on a particular subject or be strictly educational in nature. Columnists benefit by having their photo included along with a one paragraph description of their company. Interested in writing a column? Contact Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor, at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
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