Starbucks removing plastic straws from all locations by 2020

​Starbucks announced today that all plastic straws will be replaced with strawless lids in their over 28,000 stores worldwide. The strawless lid that Starbucks designed, developed and manufactured will become their new standard. This goes for all iced coffee, tea and espresso drinks.

Just a few days ago, the city of Seattle (where Starbucks was founded) announced plastic straws and utensils will be banned from restaurants. There is a global initiative to encourage getting rid of plastic that only gets used one time, due to the damaging effects it has on our environment. The U.N. Environment Programme has previously estimated that 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into our oceans yearly , that’s the same as dumping a garbage truck full of plastic every , single, minute. It’s no wonder Starbucks is making the shift away from plastic. McDonalds announced recently they would get rid of plastic straws in their UK and Ireland restaurants.

According to Starbucks, by making this change, they will eliminate over 1 million straws a year.

“For our partners and customers, this is a significant milestone to achieve our global aspiration of sustainable coffee, served to our customers in more sustainable ways,” said Kevin Johnson, president and chief executive officer for Starbucks.

Sources:

Starbucks , Reuters and Washington Post